Denver Nuggets: Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and the train that never left

Despite injuries to three starters, Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray refuse to crumble, keeping the Denver Nuggets atop the mighty Western Conference.

In the fourth quarter of the Denver Nuggets‘ packed-house matchup with the San Antonio Spurs, a red-hot Jamal Murray laid slain on the hardwood, clutching his ankle in agony.

A moan went up from the Pepsi Center faithful, a group demoralized by yet another injury. Murray had carried the Nuggets for much of this dogfight. Now it appeared he may be the one needing to be carried — back to the locker room for evaluation. Could the Mile High faithful ever catch a break?

With one final grimace, Murray sprang to his feet and jumped up and down. His face showed pain, but his eyes blazed fire. He could take a bullet to the leg, and he still wouldn’t leave the game. The hometown screaming was unbelievable.

The Nuggets carried that fight for the remainder of the game, as they out-gritted the San Antonio Spurs to a 102-99 win. Murray was hobbled, but he spurred Denver emotionally, hitting a key runner at the 3:16 mark to extend the lead to five. As the game went on, Nikola Jokic, Monte Morris and company gathered the remaining pieces and reeled in the dub.

This may have been a fitting end to the game, but not to Murray’s episode. The very next night, he dropped 46 as Denver edged the Phoenix Suns, 122-118. Does any other third-year player gut out wins like Murray?

When the Nuggets lost Gary Harris and Paul Millsap in early December, the pity train pulled up to the Mile High City, ready to console the grieving bunch on their journey down the ranks of the Western Conference.

As it turns out, that train never left the station.

In nine games without Millsap and Harris starting, the Nuggets have posted a 6-3 record. This stretch includes victories over the Toronto Raptors and Oklahoma City Thunder.

Throughout this spurt, Jokic averaged 22.2 points, 10.1 rebounds and 6.8 assists a night. He’s scored 19 or better in eight of the nine games, and averaged 9.3 assists in the past three contests. Meanwhile, Murray proved himself an excellent wingman, notching 20.4 points, 5.2 boards and 4.8 dimes per game. He averaged 38.5 points and 6.5 3-pointers in this weekend’s back-to-back wins.

The most impressive feat? Denver lost not one inch in the tightly-packed Western Conference. When Millsap joined Harris on the IR, the Nuggets were atop the pack by half a game. Fast-forward to today, and the Nuggets still lead the West by the same margin.

How is this possible, playing nine games with just two regular starters? Perhaps Jokic and Murray are just that good.

Let’s examine Denver’s most gifted duo of the past 15 years. Could even the insanely-talented paring of Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson pull off this type of short-handed winning streak? Could they spearhead a pieced-together lineup to a 6-3 spurt, winning dogfights against the league’s best? Even diehard Nuggets fans of the early 2000s would admit this is unlikely.

Jokic and Murray represent the heart of Denver’s new era. The calm, tricky dominance of Jokic combined with the Murray’s fiery scoring hasn’t met a mountain too high in 2018-19. These two alone are enough to make the Golden State Warriors antsy.

When the Nuggets reach the playoffs for the first time since the George Karl era, they will have Jokic and Murray to thank. Conquering this nine-game stretch, relatively unassisted, was a season-hinging challenge. The duo is history in the making. Buckle up, Nuggets Nation.