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Boston Celtics Are No Match For Jamal Murray’s 48 Points in 115-107 Denver Win

By Thomas King

The Boston Celtics had no answer for Jamal Murray in the loss Monday. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
The Boston Celtics had no answer for Jamal Murray in the loss Monday. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post via Getty Images) /
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Boston Celtics forward
Boston Celtics forward /

Don’t Let Jamal Murray Get Hot

In the first half, Murray exploded for 23 first-half points, making 10-of-14 shots. Denver had great success running both Murray and Gary Harris in dribble handoffs with Nikola Jokic, which Boston did not know how to defend.

Afraid to give Jokic any space to shoot, the Celtics bigs hugged tight to him and the guards tried to fight over the top of his screens. However, this tactic allowed the Nuggets guards to get downhill going to the rim and Murray took full advantage, getting some good looks early to get his confidence rolling.

Once Murray got hot, there wasn’t too much the Celtics could do about it. In the second half, Boston tried a few different defensive schemes to slow him down, but none of them worked.

On the dribble handoffs, Boston tried to meet him on the other side of the screen, instead of trailing behind him, but Murray was not deterred; he simply shot over the top of the defense or slithered around it.

Late in the game, Celtics coach Brad Stevens even tried a more drastic approach. Stevens went with a small lineup with Marcus Morris playing center and guarding Jokic, hoping that by putting five defenders on the floor who could guard on the perimeter, the Celtics would be able to switch the screens to slow Murray. Instead, Boston miscommunicated on the switches and allowed Murray to sink two wide open three-pointers that forced a Celtics timeout.

When that didn’t work, Stevens brought Horford back in to solidify the defense, but even Al was helpless against the onslaught.

The only thing Murray couldn’t do was get to 50 points, hard as he may try. The Nuggets point guard missed a late layup that would have gotten him there, then fired up a shot at the buzzer with the game already in hand–a big no-no in basketball’s honor code–which Irving and some Celtics took exception to.

Yet, on a night when Jokic attempted just three shots, Murray carried Denver to the victory, shooting 19-for-30 and 5-for-11 from distance.

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