Nuggets' David Adelman Reacts to Jamal Murray's 39 Points vs Spurs

The Denver Nuggets' 20-point comeback win against the San Antonio Spurs was really made possible by the dominant performance down the stretch from All-Star guard Jamal Murray.

In a team-high 40 minutes after entering the game listed on the injury report with a lingering ankle injury, Murray led the game with 39 points on 11-21 shooting from the field, shot a perfect 15-15 from the free-throw line, and paired it with two rebounds and seven assists.

A whopping 30 of those points from Murray came within the second half in the process of a resilient comeback and their 41st victory on the regular season. It's his seventh game this year scoring 39 or more points in a single game, leading Denver to a 5-2 record in those showings.

After the game, Nuggets head coach David Adelman spoke a bit about what he saw throughout Murray's heroic night, crediting not just his impressive shot-making down the stretch, but also the mental toughness it took to play at the elite level he did for 40 minutes.

"Yeah, he's just so mentally tough," Adelman said of Murray. "He was questionable coming down here. My thought process was he wasn't going to play. We already had a different starting lineup in place. [He] felt better, we talked about before the game. He's just such immensely tough guy."

Mar 11, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets head coach David Adelman speaks to the media before the game against the Houston Rockets at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

"I think the shot making was so impressive," he continued. "He made a couple big threes, but some of the in-between shots he made, the floaters, the semi post ups, and obviously 15 of 15 from the free throw line, to close the game out, is really special. He's an All-Star this year, to me an All-NBA player. Games like this prove it."

Jamal Murray Making Appealing All-NBA Case

Murray's night against the Spurs yet another entry into what's been a career-best season for Murray throughout his 10th year in the league.

Through 62 games, he's averaging a career-best 25.7 points on his best-ever shooting from the field (48.4%) and three-pointers (42.9%), along with 4.3 rebounds, 7.1 assists, and nearly a steal a night.

He's currently ninth in the NBA for total scoring on the season with room to land even higher by the end of the year; even narrowly ahead of Nikola Jokic due to the missed time he had during the month of January.

Mar 12, 2026; San Antonio, Texas, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (27) shoots in between San Antonio Spurs forwardd — Mar 12, 2026; San Antonio, Texas, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (27) shoots in between San Antonio Spurs forwards Harrison Barnes (40) and forward Carter Bryant (11) in the first half at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images | Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

It's hard to dispute that Murray hasn’t only been one of the best 15 players throughout the league, but also one of the most available star talents across the year––putting him well on pace to surpass the 65-game minimum required by the NBA's Player Participation Policy, and giving him an appealing case to get that long-aspired All-NBA nod at the end of the season.

Especially as the Nuggets continue to build momentum towards the tail end of the regular season, and if Murray can keep playing at a similar level seen against the Spurs, it'll be even harder to look past Denver's star guard for those All-NBA honors that Adelman sees as well within reach.

With just 15 games to go in the regular season, the pressure is building for both Murray and the Nuggets as a whole to finish strong and roll into the playoffs. Performances like this one against San Antonio have shown that they might be catching that fire at the perfect time.