Jamal Murray Takes Blame for Nuggets' Crucial Loss to Pistons

The Denver Nuggets have been exceptional while three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic is out with a knee injury, but they cannot win every game, with or without him. On Tuesday night, they suffered a close 109-107 loss to the Eastern Conference's top team, the Detroit Pistons.

The Nuggets put together a valiant effort against the Pistons, as they even had two chances to tie the game with just seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Jamal Murray got fouled on a three-point attempt twice in the closing seconds while the Nuggets were down by three, but both times, he missed a crucial free throw that would have given them a chance to force overtime.

After the game, Murray addressed his late free-throw woes and took blame for the Nuggets' shortcomings in Tuesday's loss.

"I just have to be better. I had a golden opportunity there, twice. I wanted to redeem myself, it just wasn’t my night. I have to be better. I can be better all throughout the game; it wasn’t just the missed free-throws. I didn’t play well today. The stats say otherwise, but I don’t feel like I made a major impact on the game, I didn’t take advantage of my opportunities, I played too slow. We have all the excuses in the world, but I just have to be better," Murray said.

Jamal Murray takes the pressure of being Denver's star

Typically, any Nuggets loss would fall on the shoulders of Jokic, but with the Serbian superstar sidelined, Murray is taking the on-court and off-court mantle. Murray acknowledging how he has to be better after Tuesday's loss is what the Nuggets want to hear from the star point guard, but realistically, he is doing everything he can to keep Denver afloat.

It is not an easy task for Murray to take over the team after eight previous seasons of playing as Jokic's sidekick, but he has done an incredible job. In Tuesday's loss, Murray finished with 24 points and ten assists, while shooting 7-18 from the field and 10-15 from the free-throw line. Of course, his five missed free throws were crucial, along with shooting 0-6 from three-point range, but the loss does not fall on him.

Jamal Murray had 3 free throws to tie the game TWICE and missed on BOTH TRIPS 😭 pic.twitter.com/zel5jjIA03
— BrickCenter (@BrickCenter_) January 28, 2026

Murray finished the game with a team-high plus-eight rating, and like every game without Jokic, he tried to put the team on his back. The narrative around him would have been much different if he had not missed those crucial free throws, but that is what comes with being Denver's number-one option.

With Jokic expected to be sidelined another week, Murray will have a few more games as Denver's go-to guy, and he will certainly do everything he can to be better than he was on Tuesday night.

Jamal Murray takes the pressure of being Denver's star

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