Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, who left Monday’s game with a scary non-contact knee injury (video link), has been diagnosed with a torn left ACL, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The club confirmed the diagnosis, announcing that Murray will be out indefinitely.
As we detailed earlier today, Murray suffered the injury during the fourth quarter of Denver’s loss to Golden State on Monday. His knee buckled as he attempted to take off for a layup and he immediately fell to the floor in obvious pain, pounding the court with his hand. He eventually refused the wheelchair that had been brought onto the floor and hopped to the locker room without putting any weight on his left leg (video link).
Murray had been scheduled to undergo testing today to determine the severity of the injury, and while there was some hope that there would be good news, those tests have instead confirmed the Nuggets’ worst fears.
Based on the typical recovery timeline for ACL tears, the injury will end Murray’s season, putting a serious dent into Denver’s title hopes. It will almost certainly delay his 2021/22 debut as well, since the NBA is looking to get back on its usual schedule, which would mean an October start.
It’s a crushing blow for a Nuggets team that has played some of its best basketball of the season as of late. Before losing its last two games, Denver had won 17 of 20 and appeared to have hit its stride since adding Aaron Gordon at the trade deadline.
At 34-20, the Nuggets rank fourth in the Western Conference and should still earn a playoff spot, but Murray’s absence will significantly reduce the likelihood of a deep postseason run. A year ago, the standout guard was Denver’s leading scorer in the playoffs, with 26.5 PPG on a scorching .505/.453/.897 shooting line in 19 games (39.6 MPG).
Prior to Murray’s ACL tear, the Nuggets had already been in the market for more backcourt depth, with Austin Rivers, Gerald Green, and Troy Daniels among the players on their radar. That search figures to intensify in the wake of Murray’s injury, as the club may now be able to offer those players a spot higher on the depth chart.
Murray, meanwhile, is scheduled to fly back to Denver with the team in the next few hours, according to Mike Singer of The Denver Post, who tweets that the 24-year-old’s surgery hasn’t yet been scheduled.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Shoot. That absolutely sucks to see.
Hate to see that reaction on non contact injuries, pretty much knew right away it was very bad, hopefully a speedy recovery Denver was one of my favorite underdogs to root for in the western playoffs
Wow. That really sucks. Denver was one of the most intriguing teams.
They looked unstoppable after getting Gordon. Thought they were a legit contender, esp with LBJ/AD injuries.
This is a real loss for the league this year
i mean didnt murray miss most of those wins. Capazzo/Rivers can hold the fort down. Capazzo passes the ball more too. Aaron Gordon is now the second option and needs to step up
You obviously haven’t watched them if that’s your take. MPJ has undergone a major improvement recently and Monte is their best point guard.
Another crappy Dr.Suess take. Murray is 2nd in minutes, started 48 of 54 Denver games. Monte Morris is #5 in minutes, albeit with a PER that fell a bit playing out of position one-third of the time. Compazzo is a decent backup but Rivers is not even on the team!
They need to get a 2 that can shoot, not Rivers. I read the FA list… strange that there are not better options. shabazz Napier might be the best guard but he is small also.
Why not Jeremy Lin? 32 years old shooting 51/43/88 on 5 threes a game 20 pts 6 asts 3 rebs, good size in the G league. Nuggs need a point guard that can be a primary scoring threat and secondary shot creator.
He should not have been playing last night. You know he was still hurt how he was not much of a factor in the game which is not him. His knee gave out on a drive to the basket. Its a shame he is one of the best young players in the NBA and to be out a year its tough.
Strangely, it was the other knee. He had been out recently for his right knee.
Over compensation for 1 knee. Same thing happened with Thompson. You favor the hurt knee and place to much pressure on the other leg. He didn’t look like the same old Murray last night so you could tell he wasn’t 100%.
Agreed, and this is a terrible loss for the Nuggets. He looked off all night from his usual excellent self, proving that playing with an injury is by far the most counter-intuitive thing any athlete can do. Athletes will never understand that they are only good when they are healthy and when they aren’t they turn into bad players who are better off on the bench.
So you noticed it too he was not playing at his usual level of super star. The night before loss probably pushed him to play. Coach Malone failed in allowing him to play hurt when everyone could see he was not himself.
Much has to do with who makes decisions and players are given a lot without having the education to choose the best course of action. Plus they are acting with pride that tells them they have to be as macho as possible to deserve respect. That he refused the wheelchair to hop off the court as described is comical. He used the previously injured leg to bear all his weight after doing the opposite (pushing off his only good leg) got him in a world of trouble to rupture an ACL. I don’t mean to make light of the anguish he’s in, only to highlight what a poor decision it is to try to appear strong by hopping off the court on an injured leg after you injured the other leg because you don’t want to appear weak.
These guys need to accept more help and advice that they simply aren’t capable of doing for themselves. And there should be no shame in any of it.
I dont think it’s to “appear weak.” Its pride as a person to get back up and move on your own, and sometimes its refusal, in the moment, to believe it’s as bad as it is. I’ve dealt with a lot of injuries, and most of the time, I knew something was bad, or even knew what it likely was, especially with repeat injuries, but you just want to do what you can, until its impossible
The specifics of the justification I understand might vary. The end result is the same where athletes are making very poor decisions and should be taught to accept advice of trained medical pros on the scene.
In your case, I presume such personnel might not be available to you. But the logic of ‘do what you can, until it’s impossible’ is all about a foolish pride that got Murray in this case into so much trouble that he blew that ACL then risked further injury to get off the court as he did by the same motivation. But he’s a brave strong guy — who did himself horrible damage he should have avoided if he took better advice. He should have never felt the need to prove how brave or strong he is, and nor should you. Unless jumping headstrong into a catastrophic injury is a desired outcome for you.
Did we learn of an added injury from him coming off the floor?
Being overcautious with your stars (as the Nets or the Lakers are doing) is always the right approach, but it’s especially important in a season as strange as this one, with virtually no off-season and continuous absences/postponements due to the health and safety protocols.
Its the playoffs and championship games that matter not a regular season game trying to be one slot ahead. lakers and Nets will be dangerous if they have no injuries going into the playoffs.
Can’t speak for everybody, but I feel like Denver was a contending underdog that many NBA fans including myself were rooting for. Seeing Jamal go down sucks to see for not just Nuggets fans. Hope to see him back soon next season.
Honestly for me Denver was the favorite to win the title. This really is unfortunate for him and the team.
Same here. Knicks fan but was rooting for them. I especially wanted to see playoff Murray again. He was so good last year in the playoffs and super fun to watch.
After getting Gordon they looked like the goods — this really sucks for all parties involved
Devastating loss for Denver. It’s not even close to an adequate replacement, but I figure this will accelerate the talks with Austin Rivers.
Damn hope Murray recovers back to full strength by next season.
They had the best chance vs Lakers To represent the West vs the Heat in the finals.
Why was he even in the game when it looked like it was already done, especially after he just missed 4 games due to knee soreness and had played 31 minutes.
How many bets were sold on prop swap in the last 24hrs
14.
Is there an over under I can bet on for that #?
Mpj needs to step up now
Has to prove hes worth a Max Contract now.
Such bad news.
The silver lining is that Monte Morris is more than capable of stepping up and I think Facundo will be a solid playoff performer.
In the regular season those two will be fine, but neither can duplicate what Murray did in the playoffs last season. They will need Jokic to prove he deserves to be the MVP and perform at the same level during the postseason that his injured teammate did last year.
I think Murray’s and Jokić’s stats from the last post-season were quite comparable, i.e. I wouldn’t say Murray was a lot better than Jokić (if at all).
2020 Playoffs stats:
– Murray: 26.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 6.6 apg, 1 spg, 0.2 bpg, 2.8 tov
shooting line: 50% fg, 45% 3p, 90% ft
– Jokić: 24.4 ppg, 9.8 rpg, 5.7 apg, 1.1 spg, 0.8 bpg, 3.3 tov
shooting line: 52% fg, 43% 3p, 84% ft
Clearly Jokic’s play was light years better than Murray last playoffs, the difference is that Jokic is always the best & Murray had never played at a high level before, so it would seem he was better when clearly Jokic was sooo much better than him, right?
I mean it is a devastating miss for DEN… but at least Murray is just a shooter, MPJ can more than adequately fill the shoes, if Jokic goes down, counting he does it all for the team, then they would be totally cooked!
True, mostly a shooter, but he was driving confidently in the bubble. Maybe he needs the bigger event!
Nugget vets will have to work with MPJ now, assuming they were grudging about it earlier. Anyway Gordon will I’m sure.
Big Jamal Murray fan here and I am sorry to read this. Always felt the Sixers should have drafted him
Anyway, the Nuggets were muddling through this season, they weren’t as good this ear as they were last
Still though, this really sux that this happened.
Denver has been the most entertaining team in the league the last 2 years. And Jamal is an irreplaceable part of that. I wish him success in healing.
Maybe sign Jeremy Lin? 32 years old shooting 51/43/88 on 5 threes a game 20 pts 6 asts 3 rebs, good size in the G league. Nuggs need a point guard that can be a primary scoring threat and secondary shot creator. That sounds exactly like Lin.
Lin’s putting up the numbers that Denver needs. Can he translate that from the g league to the NBA? Maybe in Denver’s system with a strong team around him?
Linsanity in Denver!
This is bad man. This season has to be worst ever for injuries. Nuggets had a real chance this yr. This team had not peaked yet imo. Was looking forward to watching them in playoffs. Terrible News ….
Get well Jamal, get healthy bro.
S**t happens it’s not about a short off season
That leaves just the clippers & lakers…
Terrible …I had them as the favs to rep the West and even win the whole thing…..margins weren’t high on that projection but boy as a Laker fan I was “anybody but Denver Rd 1 ” Such a shame, Denver has done it the right way for many years culminating up to this moment to strike
Without Murray playing next season MPJ & Gordon 2022 extensions are now really hard to estimate too…
You really hate to see it in general, but especially at a time like this. It was very reminiscent of Derrick Rose, without the hop step…moreso reminded me of my first knee injury when I blew out everything with my leg extended a similar way…I just hope he comes back ok eventually. You could question why he was in the game, with better defensive options like Monte Morris and size like PJ Dozier on the bench, while he had been out with the other knee injury, but that is still a winnable game at that moment, and there is no way to know. Unfortunately, it seems like he may have been compensating, which usually leads to stuff like this. Thought he missed more than 4 games, but nevertheless, you hate to see this type of situation for anyone…
Could make sense to look into someone like Dion Waiters, still not on a team. He can get into the paint at will, give them some of the scoring they lost, and still can knock down outside shots, as well as compete defensively. A lot of stuff that happened last year was overblown, in my opinion, so I think he deserves a shot, and I think he would make sense for them. Could also be a shot for someone like Jeremy Lin
Pain! My heart hurts.
Time for MPJ to rise to the next level and Barton and Gordon to provide more production.
No way Jamal can be replaced. Was having his best season. Just have to collectively mitigate the damage.
I didn’t know Nuggets had so many fans. They did get better after the trade. Cap n Crunch had a pro-Nug post with some other solid predictions.
My prediction of Denver with the title now looks in big trouble. I like Monte and PJ Dozier but, in the playoffs without a backcourt star sounds like an overmatch.
Barton is uneven and is better at the 3 but he better get his best ready.
The situation should help MPorter get accepted, esp now with another cape-wearing forward starting. I just do not think either can cover guards.
FO was too slow to get another quality guard aboard. Not much in free agency.
I had Denver as the 1 seed last year, but they weren’t as good, and I also thought theyd make a trade for a guard. This year, I had them pretty much right where they are, but still thought they’d make a trade for a guard, and they still havent…they added Shaq Harrison, so they potentially have some really strong defensive lineups to go to, which is different from what they’ve had, but they should look to add 1 of the scoring guards that I mentioned, or maybe someone else I didn’t consider, who are left in free agency. Waiters gets into the paint at will, which is a big deal, especially in the playoffs