NBA FINALS: HEAT VS. NUGGETS

June 8, 2023

Jamal Murray

Denver Nuggets

Practice Day

Q. Jamal, I wanted to ask you about your relationship with Coach Malone, what he's meant to you during your recovery. He spoke about during a time you were maybe even apprehensive about your future in Denver and he reassured you. What did he mean for your recovery, and how has he helped you become the player that you are today?

JAMAL MURRAY: Yeah, I think it goes both ways. I think we just developed a relationship of trust on the court where he understands what I'm trying to get to, and during rehab, just always reassuring me.

Not just rehab but even during games if I'm not shooting well, just always reassuring me and keeping me positive, looking on the bright side and not letting me get into my own head sometimes about what's going on in the midst of the games or the midst of rehabs.

He has always helped me out and kept me in a positive mood or done enough to reassure me. So I appreciate that a lot.

Q. You spoke last night about the chemistry that you and Jokic have together. How much of that are you guys almost with your eyes closed you can kind of read off one another and really have developed something on the floor that really clicks?

JAMAL MURRAY: Yeah, the best word is free flowing. If something is not there, we don't go to it. If it's there, we go to it. If we plan on doing something and they do something different, we adjust on the fly. We call a lot of audibles. Each possession we're talking about what they just did, how we can counter it. There's so many different counters that we can do.

We don't fight it. I think that's the biggest thing. Whatever we're doing, whatever the defense is doing, we're not fighting it. We're just reacting and playing and flowing right into our offense and not being stagnant.

It's a lot of fun to play like that, being unselfish and just make reads.

Q. Earlier this year you said you were appreciative or you believed that Joker was stealing all your triple-doubles and you finally got one in January, I think against the Pacers. What did it mean to get a triple-double last night? Did that mean anything to you? How appreciative were you that Malone left you in the game to ultimately get that rebound with three seconds left?

JAMAL MURRAY: He was trying to make subs but I was at the free-throw line, so I kind of had to stay in. Yeah, like I said, it's a cool stat. Just want to win a championship. Just trying to win a game. It's not really worth something looking into or playing for. Just trying to win a game and doing everything I can to impact it.

Q. Is it possible to say is it going to be two more games or four more games for Denver to win, and can you guys mentally kind of be focused only on one game? Or do you always think maybe four more games and think of the whole thing? You're in the Finals. How do you psychologically eliminate that and just focus on playing? Is it a hard thing to do right now?

JAMAL MURRAY: No. We just go into every game trying to win. We try to win every game. Home or away, try to win every game. We don't plan on losing a game.

Whether we're home or away, we're trying to win. Just kind of react off that.

Q. Jokic is shooting something like 47 percent from three in the postseason. Hasn't gotten a high volume of attempts from three in this series. What does the threat of his shooting open up for your offense?

JAMAL MURRAY: Takes the biggest guy out of the paint. You have to guard him. He can obviously shoot it. I think he just does a good job of just picking his spots, pump faking, getting to the lane or shooting an open three, even shooting a contested one just to keep them honest.

That opens things up not just for us for but for him as well. Opens up his moves and his drives and his passing and all that. He is going to continue to play the game and do a good job of picking his spots.

Q. How much of your chemistry with Nikola Jokic do you think has to do with your personalities working well together, not just your basketball styles but who you are as people?

JAMAL MURRAY: Yeah, just a love for the game and trying to accomplish something. We both got our mind on winning, and however it takes -- we always say it might not be your night, but if you can set a good screen, if you can play good defense, get a rebound, if you can hustle, if you can make a timely pass or a shot or whatever it is, that's what we're trying to accomplish.

Sometimes it may not be one of our nights, but we can both impact the game and winning. I think that's where the root of it stems from, is just having a common goal.

Q. Joker has seen like a million different types of matchups and coverages the last two months. How would you describe how he kind of puts the puzzle together, solves these problems? Seems like it takes like a half for him to figure out what they're doing and to fix it.

JAMAL MURRAY: Like I said, just making it look easy, slowing the game down. Whether the double team is coming from the bottom or the middle, single coverage to an assign, it doesn't matter. He'll figure it out. We'll all adjust to give him the right spacing.

He has been doing it. He is a two-time MVP. He has been doing it for a while where they're not just having one guy on him. To be able to pick teams apart with his passing and scoring and timely passing is really tough to stop.

Q. We always talk about Nikola's greatness, deservedly so. But last night Miami shot 3 for 19 when Jokic defended them as a primary help defender and Bam shot 1 for 10. If Joker starts defending like this, what else can you say about him? What does that do for you guys?

JAMAL MURRAY: We know. As a group, we know what we can do on defense. We're just trying to change the narrative that he doesn't play defense. He's got amazing hands, timing, IQ, rebounding ability, body position, rule of vert. He's got all that.

Sometimes it's not about how high you can jump and what kind of shots you can block. It's about body position and where you are on the court. That's half the job right there.

He is an elite defender in the pick-and-roll. For what he lacks, he makes up for it.

Q. Obviously Nikola had a ton of rebounds in this game, but you had 10, Aaron had 10, Michael Porter had seven. How does it change the dynamic of the game when one team like yours is gang rebounding like that, when you don't know who's crashing, who's going to come up with it?

JAMAL MURRAY: I think the biggest thing about that is just giving them one shot. They've got a lot of scorers and shooters over there, so we can't keep giving them multiple looks, multiple chances. Even when we do play good defense, it's very deflating to watch them get a rebound and get another chance at it.

It's a collective effort on the board. Like I said, all coming from the elbows and chip in, Jokic battling down there every night and then you've got Mike and AG, normally the second- and third-biggest guys out there cleaning stuff up.

Sometimes it may not be your rebound, but as long as one of us gets it, the job is done.

Q. I think when we talk about the big man position and dominance, you think about speed, strength, stuff like that. Do you think Nikola has kind of redefined what dominance looks like at that big man position where he is maybe not the strongest, maybe not the fastest, but he is getting it done in a dominant way?

JAMAL MURRAY: He is strong. He is strong. He is seven-foot. He's got amazing touch, IQ, passing. He does a great job of just picking his spots, when to go right away, when to wait for the double, when to put the ball on the floor, when to spin. Yeah, he is a tough cover down there. He is up there with the greats.

Q. You've talked about your meditations. You've talked about all the mental work that you've done. How much are you able to envision a game like you had last night versus how much is it organic and you're just in a good mental space and can play like that?

JAMAL MURRAY: I think it's both. Sometimes I'll ask (assistant equipment manager Gene Marquez) what color jerseys we're wearing so that helps me envision what I'm trying to portray in my head. Just a little trick where it's a little easier for me to kind of imagine the energy I want to bring in the uniform I'm in.

I also envision like reactions. Like, if I miss a shot, what is the first thing I'm thinking about; like, damn, that was a good shot or just next shot or just get back or don't worry about it or am I homing in on it too long. Little stuff like that, just kind of redefining my mentality within the game so when it happens I'm almost prepared for it and able to adjust that way.

Q. We saw you really impressive in this game, and yesterday you were part of the history in the NBA Finals. Is this what you expected, and how would you describe this?

JAMAL MURRAY: It's a lot of fun. A lot of fun. We're all having fun. Trying to solve this puzzle together. Like I said, we've all been dreaming about getting to this stage. We have vets in the league that haven't made it this far in their 15, 16 years of playing. So we don't want to take this opportunity for granted, knowing that this is not an everyday thing. It takes a lot of work to be here, a lot of years of dedication. We just want to make the most of it for everybody.