Nuggets Notes: Malone, Murray, Brown, Injury Report

The Nuggets are two wins away from the Finals and coach Michael Malone says his team is underappreciated by the national media, according to Sam Amick of The Athletic.

Facing a storied franchise in the Lakers and their two superstars, the Nuggets believe they’re not getting enough credit for how good they’ve become.

“You win Game 1 of the (West Finals), and all everybody talked about was the Lakers,” Malone said. “Let’s be honest. That was the national narrative, was ‘Hey, the Lakers are fine. They’re down 1-0, but they figured something out.’

“No one talked about (how) Nikola (Jokic) just had a historic performance. He’s got 13 triple-doubles now — third all time (in the playoffs). What he’s doing is just incredible. But the narrative wasn’t about the Nuggets. The narrative wasn’t about Nikola. The narrative was about the Lakers and their adjustments. You put that in your pipe, you smoke it and you come back, and you know what? We’re going to go up 2-0.”

We have more on the Nuggets:

  • Jamal Murray scored 23 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter of Game 2 and he also played along with the “lack of respect” theme afterward, Marc J. Spears of Andscape writes. Murray feels he’s often overlooked in the discussion of the league’s top guards. “I don’t think I get enough respect as I should be,” Murray said. “I’m better than a lot of players in the league. Every time I see rankings of guys I think, ‘Man, that is crazy.’ Maybe it’s because I have been out for so long. But if we win the (championship), it changes everything.”
  • Bruce Brown has turned into one of the key free agent signings in the league from last summer. Brown has been a defensive agitator in the postseason and a surprising offensive spark-plug, averaging 16.5 points over the last four games. “We were surprised that he was available on the second day of free agency,” Malone told Tony Jones of The Athletic. “We didn’t hesitate to try and bring him in. He’s been a perfect fit for us.” Brown signed a tw0-year deal with a $6.8MM player option for next season and is expected to hit the free agent market once again this summer.
  • The Nuggets have struggled with injuries in recent seasons but continue to have good health in this postseason. They don’t have anyone on the injury report for Game 3, Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports tweets.
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