Lakers News: Jamal Murray’s Explosive WCF Against LA Was 2 Years In The Making
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Everything seemed to be going in the direction of the Lakers as we watched the end of the regular season unfold and the early stages of the playoffs wrap up. Against all odds, the LakeShow was able to find a second gear after the trade deadline and wind up on the most-ideal side of the play-in tournament... the seventh seed.
From then on out, every squad posed their challenges, most notably the defending champion Golden State Warriors, but LA received contributions from all throughout their roster. For the first time in a long time, LeBron James was able to take a step back and only take over when needed.
However, that all changed once the WCF rolled around. LA had been able to steal game one on the road in both of their previous series but the Denver Nuggets proved to be a whole different animal. Not only were they led by the generational talent of Nikola Jokic but Jamal Murray could not miss in the four games they played as he averaged 32.5 on 52 percent from the field against the Lakers' defense.
Here's a reminder of the types of shots he was hitting in case you forgot.
But things were not always this effortless and smooth for the former Kentucky guard. Murray actually missed the entire 2021-2022 season with a torn ACL after playing some of the best basketball of his career the previous two years.
He had just dawned the nickname 'Bubble Murray' for putting forth some of the greatest playoff iperofmnaces during the COVID-altered months. A number of recent players for the Lakers have suffered the same injury at some point in their professional careers such as DeMarcus Cousins and Thomas Bryant and it is one that few have come back from and been able to maintain the same production.
And those same thoughts were going through Murray's head when he received the tragic news. Being a point guard in the NBA, his speed and lateral movement were what always made him such a lethal scorer and facilitator. The last time he saw LA back in the playoffs, he averaged 25 points with seven assists as Denver fell in just five games.
However, he returned this year even better after his ACL recovery and head coach Michael Malone detailed the roadblocks he had to endure just to get here.
"His first thought was, 'Man are you guys going to trade me? I'm damaged goods. Are you guys going to trade me now?' I hugged him and I said, 'Hell no. You're ours. We love you.'
Even though the Lakers had their season end in large part due to his scoring outburst on the court this year, you have to appreciate the story behind his success.
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