Nuggets hope Murray will return for playoffs
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DENVER (AP) — Jamal Murray missed his fifth consecutive game for the Denver Nuggets on Sunday with a strained right hamstring and coach Michael Malone said “hopefully” his star point guard will be back for the start of the NBA playoffs.
Malone said that keeping Murray on the bench with four games to go in the regular season wasn’t a matter of precaution: “Jamal’s hurt. It’s not (being) careful. He’s hurt.”
“This has been a weird one,” Malone added. “It was day-to-day, day-to-day. The next thing you know it’s not day-to-day. So, obviously a big loss for us. But we have more than enough. We’ve shown that time and time again in that locker room. So, if Jamal is unable to go, we need other guys to step up and and play desperate and play urgent.”
Asked before tip-off against Indiana on Sunday if he expects Murray to be back in action by the playoffs, Malone said, “hopefully he's able to be back by then.”
The Nuggets entered Sunday on a three-game skid and in a fourth place in the bunched-up Western Conference, just a game ahead of the eighth-place Memphis Grizzlies.
Murray dealt with a sprained ankle down the stretch a year ago and played poorly in a second-round playoff series against Minnesota and again for Canada in the Paris Olympics.
The Pacers were without star forward Pascal Siakam (right elbow) in Denver.
Siakam's injury exacerbated the Pacers' challenge in facing Nikola Jokic, who's on the verge of becoming the first player in league history to finish top-three in scoring, rebounds and assists in the same season.
“It's a monumental task,” Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said. “If you think about it, he's really playing every position on the floor. He's handling the ball a lot of the time. He plays the five. I mean, he really does the things that every position on the floor does. He shoots it, he rebounds, he drives like wings. He does things that (forwards) do. It's another historic year for him and we've had a lot of problems with him.”
Malone also addressed sticking with Russell Westbrook, who had two big blunders in the closing seconds of a 140-139 loss in double-overtime to the Wolves last week.
“We wouldn’t be where we are right now, in fourth place with four games to go, if it wasn’t for Russell this year,” Malone said. “And I think it’s easy to look at with the recency bias: ‘Well, he missed a layup, he fouled a guy against Minnesota,’ and everybody just kind of wants to detach from him. ... I don’t do that.
“I respect Russell Westbrook and I”m also appreciative of everything he’s done for this team this year on the court and off the court,” Malone said. “And with Jamal out, we need Russell Wesbrook. We need him to come into the game, provide a spark, bring energy — and our turnovers aren’t just Russ. ... It is a team-wide issue right now.
“But Russ has been around the block. He knows what big games are about and we’re playing a lot of guys right now that have no idea what big games are about. So, having a veteran that’s been there and done that ... can reassure some of those guys.”
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