Nikola Jokic Praises Jamal Murray After Dominant Performance vs. Magic

The Denver Nuggets' star duo had an incredible outing against the Orlando Magic.

Feb 10, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (27) reacts after a call as center Nikola Jokic (15) looks on in the third quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers at Ball Arena. | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

After a four-game home losing streak had fans confused about why they could not win in front of their home crowd, the Denver Nuggets have finally picked up consecutive victories in Ball Arena. On Thursday, the Nuggets defended their home court with a win over the Orlando Magic, beating the Eastern Conference foe 126-115.

All eyes were on Nikola Jokic, who dropped a 23-point triple-double while passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most career assists by a center in NBA history, but co-star point guard Jamal Murray had an impressive night for himself.

Murray finished with 32 points on 11-22 shooting from the field and 7-12 from three-point range. After the game, Jokic talked about how valuable Murray was in Thursday's win.

"Yeah, I mean, he shot the ball really well today. He was aggressive, and he made a lot of shots," Jokic said about Murray. "He made seven threes, wow, I didn't even know that. And it's good to have somebody like that who is leading us, and you're just trying to get him open or get yourself in a good position to get yourself open."

Jamal Murray is having the best season of his career

Murray is commonly recognized as one of the league's top playoff performers, but is also knocked for how he typically has slow starts to the season. This season has been much different for Murray.

After an incredible 32-point outing on Thursday, Murray is now averaging 25.2 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 6.6 assists per game, shooting 50.1% from the field, 45.6% from three-point range, and 89.1% from the free-throw line.

Murray has scored 26 or more points in nine of his 25 games this season, and the Nuggets are 7-2 in such instances. Of course, his season is highlighted by his 52-point explosion in early December, but the star guard has been consistently valuable for the Nuggets so far.

Many fans have begun to vouch for Murray to earn his first career NBA All-Star nod, which would also give Jokic his first All-Star teammate of his career. With how good the Nuggets have been this season, with a 20-6 record so far, it would be hard to deny Jokic a spot on the international All-Star team if he keeps up this level of play.

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