Jamal Murray was sidelined for more than 500 days after a torn ACL in April 2021 cost him all of last season in the NBA. His return lasted just two games before he was sidelined again.
The Nuggets’ 25-year-old point guard left Friday night’s preseason game against the Bulls grabbing the back of his left leg — the same one he underwent surgery on — and wincing as he left the floor.
The good news for Nuggets fans is that this injury doesn’t appear to be nearly as serious.
The Nuggets announced that Murray left the game because of thigh soreness. He scored two points and dished out five assists before heading to the locker room late in the second quarter and did not to return.
“It was frustrating, but it’s OK,” Murray told the Denver Post. “It’s just a cramp. It’s not like it was a pull. Nothing serious. My body hasn’t had this much since training camp, three-hour practices and all that. I guess I’m just adjusting to the workload, that’s all.
“I’m good.”
That would be significantly good for Denver, too.
Denver is one of the best teams in the Western Conference and looking to bounce back from a first-round exit against the Warriors in last year’s playoffs. The Nuggets are already without back-to-back NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, who is nursing a right wrist injury.
When healthy, Murray has proven to be one of the best young players in the league, leading Denver to the Western Conference final in 2019-20 with a 40-point outburst in Game 7 against the Clippers in the conference semifinals to erase a 3-1 series deficit. Before he went down with the ACL injury in 2020-21, Murray was averaging a career-high 21.2 points, 4.8 assists and 4.0 rebounds.
“Jamal, I get a little bit more worrisome, with the knee,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone told reporters before the game. “He’s fine, but I want to be really careful about how we do this.”
The Nuggets will open the season Oct. 19 in Utah against the Jazz.
Credit: Source link
