Nikola Jokic, Cooper Flagg React to Jamal Murray's 53-Point Outburst

For their fourth straight win, the Denver Nuggets picked up a huge 142-135 win over the Dallas Mavericks. This offensive-minded matchup certainly had some fireworks, but nobody was as impressive as Nuggets star Jamal Murray.

Murray finished the night with a new season-high of 53 points with six rebounds and four assists, while shooting 19-28 from the field and 9-14 from three-point range. When Murray gets hot, he becomes unstoppable, and his 33-point first half was certainly enough to get him going.

53 POINTS FOR JAMAL MURRAY! https://t.co/mzKKnX7n1o pic.twitter.com/R1fGiz0cpn
— NBA (@NBA) March 26, 2026

Nikola Jokic praises his All-Star teammate

While Nikola Jokic had a historic performance himself, dropping 23 points, 21 rebounds, and 19 assists, his entire game plan was centered around trying to help out Murray's hot hand.

"I mean for me, especially when Jamal is having that kind of game, just trying to get him open. I know he’s going to take and make shots. They started blitzing him and it was my turn to get everybody involved or score," Jokic said.

When Denver's star duo is playing at this level, not many teams in the NBA are capable of stopping them. While the Mavericks gave a great effort, this stellar tandem ultimately pulled away.

One of the most incredible things about Jokic and Murray as a duo is that they know how to play off each other. When Murray gets it going offensively, Jokic knows how to help him out, and vice versa.

Cooper Flagg: "He was just hot"

Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg controls the ball against Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray — Mar 25, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) controls the ball as Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (27) guards in the second quarter at Ball Arena. | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

Obviously, the Mavericks could not find any way to slow down Murray or Jokic, who had one of the most impressive duo performances in NBA history on Wednesday night, but Dallas' star rookie Cooper Flagg feels like they did what they could.

"It was impressive tonight. I don't think we did a terrible job, honestly, but he was just hot," Flagg admitted. "Some of the shots he was making, started the game, they just came out on fire, and we've got to be able to adjust better and take him away. I thought second half we came out and started a lot better on him and kind of cut his water off a little bit and he was able to get back going again down the stretch. He's an incredible player and he was hot."

As Flagg said, the Mavericks came out of halftime with a clear mission to slow down Murray, as he took just two shot attempts after his 33-point first half, but the containment did not last long. Murray went on to score 17 points in the fourth quarter to seal the deal for Denver and surpass the esteemed 50-point mark.

Flagg should also get some props for helping Dallas stay in the game against this insane Denver duo, as the first-overall pick dropped 26 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, and two steals on 10-18 shooting from the field.

Overall, this was a tight game with some incredible individual performances, but Murray, especially, deserves his flowers for dropping 53 in a win. Even on the second night of a grueling back-to-back, Murray found his rhythm.