Jamal Murray Offers Hope to Nuggets After 45-Point Outing vs. Jazz

Coming off consecutive losses, the Denver Nuggets knew they needed a win over the Utah Jazz on Monday. However, the Jazz made it far more difficult for them than expected. After a back-and-forth fight for 48 minutes with 22 lead changes, the Nuggets ultimately pulled out a 128-125 road win.

In the win, the Nuggets were led by All-Star point guard Jamal Murray, who finished the night with 45 points and eight assists, shooting 13-19 from the field, 8-13 from three-point range, and 10-11 from the free-throw line. After the game, Murray was asked how he was able to get it going in Utah.

"I was just decisive," Murray said. "Extended my range a little bit because they're a switching team, so I was open shooting it. That's all I was doing. ... I practice [tough shots]. I've been practicing them my whole life. I love to get the moment to show the shots that I can make."

Murray's resurgence offers hope to Nuggets

Murray's elite offensive game was on full display in Salt Lake City on Monday, but the Nuggets are certainly not new to this type of performance. The Nuggets seem to be at their best when Murray gets hot, as they are now 4-0 when he scores 40 or more points this season.

Luckily, Murray's 45-point outing came at the perfect time. The Nuggets have been struggling as of late, losing eight of their previous 12 games heading into Monday's matchup, but they managed to pull out a clutch win.

"Because we've done it," Murray said about the Nuggets figuring things out down the stretch. "We believe in ourselves and it showed over the years what we can do, how clutch we can be, how dominant we can be late in the game. We're just trying to get back to that. We've had a rough year, to be honest, so we're just trying to make those incremental steps to get to where we need for the playoffs."

Sidestep.
Pump fake.
Pivot.
Splash.

Jamal Murray up to a game-high 22 PTS and 8 AST 🔥 pic.twitter.com/trH1ihtlKs
— NBA (@NBA) March 3, 2026

Murray has been incredible all season for the Nuggets, having a career year, and they will continue to need this version of him down the stretch. In his last three games since dealing with a serious illness, Murray has averaged 36.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 6.0 assists, while shooting 50.7% from the field and 53.1% from beyond the arc.

In what has been a pretty disastrous season for the Nuggets, Murray has been a huge bright spot, and the team has been much better when he is clicking like he was on Monday night.

Unfortunately for the Nuggets, Monday's game in Utah was supposed to be a "break" in their schedule, as they head right back into a very challenging stretch of games. Denver's next seven games are against the Los Angeles Lakers (2x), New York Knicks, OKC Thunder, Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, and Philadelphia 76ers.

If the Nuggets want to scrape out of this grueling stretch on the positive side, they will need Murray to continue to step up.