NBA FINALS: HEAT VS. NUGGETS

June 3, 2023

Jamal Murray

Denver Nuggets

Practice Day

Q. Jamal, obviously early in the game, Nikola was setting a lot of his teammates up, you especially. Late in the game when Miami made that push, a couple key buckets going in the wrong direction and you setting Nikola up. Can you talk about all the variation you have baked into that partnership, that two-man game and how valuable that is against a defense that adjusts coverages on the court as much as Miami does?

JAMAL MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, we got five guys on the court. I thought Aaron set the tone when they switched. I think I took, like, 15 shots in the first two quarters, so there's really no need for him to be aggressive. We're dominating the game. And when they went zone, he found the pocket, found the middle of the floor and made some key shots in the paint.

It was a great team game. We had a lot of guys. Mike played really well. KCP was solid on defense the whole game. We had a lot of guys step up throughout the game.

Q. You were in Medellin for Basketball Without Borders in 2019. That young man was carefree, happy-go-lucky. You've lived through some since then. What would you have told that young Jamal Murray in 2019, and could he have expected anything that you told him about your experience?

JAMAL MURRAY: Just to stay with it. You know, life is going to happen. Stuff is going to happen. Just got to keep the mental fortitude to bounce back in whatever it is, and stay strong. This, too, shall pass. It goes for everything, negative and positive. So just keeping a level head and knowing that you'll see the light at the end of the tunnel one day.

Q. You guys only sent Miami to the line one time for two shots in Game 1. I know the goal on every possession is obviously to defend without fouling, but given the emotions and the energy and all that comes with it the Finals opener, how did you guys do it so well on Thursday?

JAMAL MURRAY: Just understanding what they are trying to do. They shoot a lot of threes, so they don't have anybody that is going to the rim like that. They missed a lot of really good looks, as well. I think so did we.

But yeah, you've just got to show your hand, stay disciplined. I think we did a good job of setting our defense. We had guys on a string, and our low man was there repeatedly. And like I said, just trying to defend -- knowing they are trying to get to the free throw line, so trying to defend without fouling.

Q. A couple days ago, Malone was recalling back to the bubble, and he said that every time he ran into the Heat, it felt like they always had a bottle of wine with them. Do you have any recollections of memories or running into guys from the Heat in the bubble? I know you ran into Donovan all the time, but anything with the Heat?

JAMAL MURRAY: Nah. I had one of my high school teammates who played for the Heat at the time, so I saw him a lot. But other than that, no.

Q. I did an interview with you back in 2017 in Spain in Barcelona and we talked a lot about meditation, your kung fu past and your training with your father and everything. Do you still do that? Do you still meditate between games? How did that help you get to this point in the Finals?

JAMAL MURRAY: It's not just the Finals. Way before that. It's meditating before games or at halftime. Taking time for myself to reflect with the good or the bad and come out with the right energy before the game or during the game if I need to adjust.

Yeah, it's not just basketball. It helps me out with myself, reflecting on myself and being able to have a conversation with myself only so that I can improve within myself. I think that's important for everybody. But basketball-wise, it just helps me refresh and get back to base and a free mind.

Q. You had a fantastic first half offensively for you guys, and second half things bogged down a little bit, especially in the fourth. When you revisited the tape, how did you feel about the process of the offense in the second half? Do you feel like you were getting to what you wanted to, or are there things you need to clean up?

JAMAL MURRAY: Yeah, we missed some really good looks. I know Miami missed a lot of shots, but we missed some point-blank shots, as well. When they went zone, Jok missed an open 15-footer. I missed an open 10-footer. Mike missed a wide-open corner three. I missed a catch-and-shoot on the wing, which was wide open. I think there's a couple more.

But we got the looks we needed. We just didn't knock them down. If we knock them down, I think they will start to break up the zone a little bit and go back to man.

But it doesn't matter. I think we played a good game. They were trying to fight back all game. I thought we did a good job of just maintaining the lead and not playing conservative by using the clock and not turning the ball over, as well.

Q. Just wanted to, given how big this moment has been for you guys just over the course of the season, you were bidding for this back to October, basically. Just wondering whether you thought that this was what you would expect or if it's a little bit different from how you would perceive it?

JAMAL MURRAY: You talking about the Finals?

Q. Yeah.

JAMAL MURRAY: I mean, I don't -- like I said, first round, Finals, it's nothing until you win it, right.

So we haven't won it yet. So until we win it, I think we'll look at it a little differently by then.

Q. Michael Malone described Nikola Jokic as an underrated defender a couple minutes ago. How would you assess him on that end and throughout this postseason, and just how important is he in this matchup against the Miami Heat?

JAMAL MURRAY: He's a really good defender. He's got great hands and a great IQ on defense and knows what the player is trying to get to, tendencies, cat-and-mouse, rule of vert, just everything. He talks early in pick-and-rolls. Post defense. There's everything.

I think he does a great job on defense. Everybody is going to have something that they don't do well on the court, and for that to be the one thing that he doesn't do particularly well and be able to still do it at a high level is pretty impressive.

He's been doing it all season. He's been getting better at it, too. So I only see room for improvement for him.

Q. You guys have gone up 2-0 each series this postseason. How big would it be to go up 2-0 in a Finals for you guys as you go to Miami?

JAMAL MURRAY: Any series. You just try to win every game. It's first to four, no matter how you get it done. Obviously, you want to take advantage of being at home. Love playing at home. But any game you can win, you take. So yeah, we're looking forward to just winning every single game that we play.

Q. You talked about the open shots you missed in the fourth quarter. Do you think it has something to do with lack of experience and the pressure of first Finals appearance ever?

JAMAL MURRAY: No.