Jamal Murray Says Nuggets Must Get Healthy to Make NBA Finals

The Denver Nuggets have one key factor to get right before finding any playoff success.

Feb 14, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; Jamal Murray speaks during interviews at media day at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: William Liang-Imagn Images | William Liang-Imagn Images

The Denver Nuggets have been struggling with health all season long.

Nikola Jokic missed a month of time due to a hyperextended knee. Nearly all of the Nuggets' starting five have missed multiple weeks at some point in the season with an injury. While they've been able to stay afloat in the Western Conference throughout, the team hasn't quite been at their best all year because of it.

That's why for Nuggets' All-Star Jamal Murray, he sees the one major factor for the Nuggets' success and NBA Finals hopes leaning on their health.

"Get healthy is a big one," Murray said of what the Nuggets need to make the Finals during All-Star Weekend. "It's hard to rate or critique our team right now with our whole starting five basically out."

"Once we're healthy, once we get guys back, we'll be in a better place."

Nuggets Suffering From Injury Bug All-Season Long

The good thing for the Nuggets is that they've been able to see their health turn in a positive direction throughout recent weeks.

Jokic has been back from his knee injury for a couple of weeks, which gives the Nuggets' lineup a major boost, and they've also seen wings Christian Braun and Cam Johnson return from their respective injuries in the past two weeks as well, providing a much-needed lift on both ends of the floor.

The problem, though, is that the Nuggets still aren't at 100% like they'll need to be for their aspired Finals run, and even in the stint that they've been healthy through the month of February, their recent stretch of games hasn't come with the most success.

Denver is 2-4 through the month of February despite Jokic being active in all six games. But in those matchups, they have still been without their versatile forward Aaron Gordon due to a hamstring injury, and also saw their standout fourth-year wing Peyton Watson go down with a hamstring injury of his own that depletes the Nuggets' frontcourt significantly on both ends of the floor.

Jan 29, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Peyton Watson (8) reacts on the court in the first quarter against the Brooklyn Nets at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Once the Nuggets are able to get both Watson and Gordon back from their respective injuries, that'll allow Denver to see their roster fully gel as it was intended to be built at the start of this season, and hopefully with enough time at their disposal to have the necessary chemistry required for a deep run in the postseason.

That's why for Murray, it should come as no surprise that health will be the biggest factor for the Nuggets to lean upon in the coming post-All-Star stretch of the season. And if able to see that turn in a positive direction, then everything else can start falling into place for that postseason success.

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