NBA FINALS: HEAT VS. NUGGETS

June 4, 2023

Jamal Murray

Denver Nuggets

Game 2: Postgame

Heat 111, Nuggets 108

Q. Coach came out and the first thing he wanted to touch on was effort and said he talked to you guys about that. Why do you think the effort was an issue, at least in his mind?

JAMAL MURRAY: I don't know. They just played hard, and like I said, it was more discipline. It's defeating when you're giving up mistake after mistake, and it's not them beating you, you're giving them open dunks or open shots. That's tough to come back from. We've just got to stay together and look ahead.

Q. Jamal, prior to tonight the last time you guys lost was Nikola's 53-point night in Phoenix. Tonight, he has 41, another loss. Do you see that as being a coincidence or do you feel like there's things you need to do better to take advantage of his big scoring nights?

JAMAL MURRAY: No, I don't think it has anything to do with that. It's defense and discipline. Like I said, we've just got to have an all-around game. We can't just have spurts of second quarter good, end of the third good. We can't have spurts of good play. We've got to play all the way through, through ups and downs, stay together and play with intensity and energy, and I don't think we had that.

We just piled them on, mistake after mistake, and weren't able to come back from that. Even when we were up, it felt like we were trying to climb back into the game just energy-wise and intensity-wise.

Q. That last shot that you took end of the game right there, what did you think of that look, and do you like not calling a timeout there and just trying to create something within the flow of the game?

JAMAL MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, I think you guys have seen me hit that shot enough. It was a good look, just didn't go down.

Q. You guys have been so good at home in the Playoffs, 9-0, outscoring foes by an average 11.9 points a game. Are you surprised to lose at home, especially with them closing the game the way we did?

JAMAL MURRAY: If we play like that, then we expect to lose like that, yeah. We can't play like that, so if we play away, home, on the road, doesn't matter. We've got to have a better showing.

Q. Jokic only had four assists in the game. Do you think that was a factor in the loss?

JAMAL MURRAY: No. He had 41 points. He's doing a lot. Yeah, he played a great game.