Denver Nuggets star Jamal Murray left the team’s 119-116 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night with a concussion. It’s too early to speculate on a timeline, but he could face a spell on the sidelines depending on how long it takes him to progress through the concussion protocol.
Early in the third quarter, Murray cut to the basket off a screen from Nikola Jokic, and then curled up to the free throw line to set a back screen for Aaron Gordon. Before Murray could get set, though, he got bumped by Anthony Edwards, which caused him to tilt forward. As a result, when Julius Randle tried to get through the screen, he slammed into Murray’s head instead of his chest.
Murray immediately doubled over and began rubbing his head. He stayed in briefly, but was then removed from the game and sent to the locker room from whence he did not return.
Again, it’s too early to say how many games, if any, Murray will miss as a result of this incident. The impact and initial reaction certainly did not look good, however, and the Nuggets play again on Saturday against the Utah Jazz on the second night of a back-to-back.
This injury continues a rough start to the season for Murray, who did not look like his usual self in the playoffs last season or the 2024 Paris Olympics earlier this summer competing for Canada.
He entered Friday averaging 19 points, five rebounds and five assists on 38% field goal shooting through the Nuggets’ first four games. Upon exiting against the Timberwolves he had just six points, two rebounds and three assists on seven shots in 22 minutes.
Murray’s poor play is a major reason why the Nuggets are off to a 2-3 start this season, and needed to scrape by in overtime against both the Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors just to get their two victories.
There are real concerns about whether Murray can still be an elite No. 2 option alongside Jokic, but he’s at least someone that opponents have to respect. The same cannot be said for most of the Nuggets’ supporting cast, which has really struggled.
Entering Friday, the Nuggets’ bench was averaging just 22.5 points per game, which ranked 28th in the league. After losing a number of key role players in recent years, Denver has tried to piece together a bench with a combination of veterans (Russell Westbrook, Dario Saric) and youngsters (Peyton Watson, Hunter Tyson, Julian Strawther), but it simply hasn’t worked.
Murray potentially being forced to miss significant time would present a big problem for the Nuggets, who are already falling off the pace in a crowded Western Conference.
