Dejounte Murray Legs Out Another Triple for the Spurs
Ben Simmons might not play a game this season. Klay Thompson is just coming back from an extended injury absence. Kyrie Irving recently was given a pandemic reprieve.
Amid all of the big-name NBA guard disruptions, Dejounte Murray continues to play through it all and perform at an unmatched pace.
On Wednesday night in San Antonio, the exquisite Spurs playmaker by way of the University of Washington and Rainier Beach High School turned in his eighth triple-double of the season, collecting 23 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists in a 118-96 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
For Murray, this represented the 12th triple-double of his five-year NBA career, two off the franchise record set by former Spurs center David Robinson.
"DJ is playing incredible right now, and we all just thrive off of him," San Antonio forward Doug McDermott said. "He does it on both ends of the floor every single night and he likes to get it going in transition. That's a shooter's dream."
Murray ranks third in the NBA in triple-doubles this season, trailing only the Denver Nuggets' Nikola Jokic, who has 10; and the Los Angeles Lakers' Russell Westbrook, who has 9.
In his latest outing, Murray was good on 11 of 20 shots from the field, though just 1 of 6 from 3-point range. He chipped in 3 steals as San Antonio, which is little more than a one-man team this season, improved to 16-28.
The game before, the Seattle guard went for 32 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in a 128-124 loss to the Houston Rockets.
Dejounte Murray has 8 triple-doubles this season, 12 in his career.
Daniel Dunn/USA TODAY Sports
Just this past weekend, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich suggested that Murray wouldn't be an NBA All-Star Game selection because of the team's poor showing. He might be totally wrong about that.
Murray, who played just the 2015-16 season for coach Lorenzo Romar and the Huskies before turning pro, is averaging 19.1 points, 8.8 rebounds and 8.3 assists per outing.
Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Husky Maven stories as soon as they’re published.
Not all stories are posted on the fan sites.
Find Husky Maven on Facebook by searching: Husky Maven/Sports Illustrated
Follow Dan Raley of Husky Maven on Twitter: @DanRaley1 and @HuskyMaven