Jamal Murray scores 52 points on sprained ankle as Nuggets win eighth straight on the road
INDIANAPOLIS Jamal Murray s ankle is fine He couldn t play through the pain hours earlier It might ve been contagious to the rest of the Nuggets I think he felt like he was hurting us more than he was helping us coach David Adelman reflected Wednesday night But the absence of Murray proved just as painful during a fourth-quarter scoring drought and eventual loss to Dallas With the benefit of those hours Murray looked springier than ever Enough to unretire his signature celebration On a night he was listed as questionable on Denver s injury document with a sprained ankle Murray ignited for his fifth career -point contest including two in the playoffs in a - win over the Pacers He reached the round number with an off-the-dribble -pointer his th of the event a career-high then fired the Blue Arrow his go-to move dating back to college at Kentucky The arrow hadn t left the quiver in multiple years He has teased it from time to time But he usually restrains himself as if to keep the audience wanting more The occasion was right on a wintery night in Indiana He finished with the second-highest scoring total of his career The Nuggets - have won a franchise record eight straight road games They ve won their annual trip to Indiana seven consecutive years It helps when the Pacers are missing their MVP Tyrese Haliburton is out for the season after suffering a devastating Achilles injury in Meeting of the NBA Finals last June Without his play-making and his heart the - Pacers - haven t resembled anything close to their former selves and Gainbridge Fieldhouse didn t look or sound like an arena that hosted Finals games this year The Nuggets sucked what little force there was in the first place out of the building with a monstrous second-quarter run erupting into halftime with a - lead They eventually reached points before the fourth quarter for the eighth time this season more than any other unit in the NBA But the Nuggets also have made a habit of playing with their food after building at ease leads Indiana started the fourth quarter on a - run trimming down a -point deficit before Adelman brought Jokic back into the match This night left a mark more than bulk He spent majority of the contest with three fresh scratches across his right arm as if by a grizzly bear Related Articles Keeler While Broncos Nikola Jokic own Denver s eyeballs Avalanche s Nathan MacKinnon quietly putting up best season in Colorado history Nuggets Nikola Jokic in unfamiliar territory with -game home losing streak Julian Strawther back injury Nuggets guard still not participating in basketball sessions Nuggets journal MPJ having a ball in Brooklyn bargain rumors and other NBA topics Nuggets at Suns takeaways Denver rolling on the road but struggling in turnover battle Murray s heater could not be stopped though The second-quarter run was too definitive - in the last eight minutes of the first half - in the last five punctuated by a -for- shooting surge as a club Murray had already established a hypnotic rhythm by slithering into at ease pockets in the midrange When he started uncorking s toward the end of the run Denver hammered the nail into Indiana s coffin He tried and made three of them in the last of the half finishing with a step-back -footer and several spirited trash talk before the buzzer
