Nuggets' David Adelman Raves About Jamal Murray's Gutsy Game 1

Of the Denver Nuggets' biggest standouts in their huge Game 1 victory vs. the Minnesota Timberwolves, none may have been as pivotal as All-Star guard Jamal Murray, who put together a vintage playoff outing that fans have gotten accustomed to seeing from him in his past several postseason runs.

In 39 minutes, Murray put together a game-high 30 points to pair with five rebounds and seven assists, along with a perfect 16-16 shooting from the free throw line, all while not making a single three-pointer on the night.

While it might not have been his prettiest performance when compared to all of his playoff statlines over the years, his play against Minnesota on Saturday was a difference-maker for Denver, and one that head coach David Adelman simply had to applaud for Murray's toughness from start to finish.

"Just toughness, man. He has a lot of responsibilities with a lot of different people guarding him that are high-level defenders. They had a hold of his jersey throughout the night. [Jaden] McDaniels works hard, Anthony Edwards is on him, [Ayo] Dosunmu, so this is a challenge," Adelman said postgame. "So, I just thought mentally he fought through it."

David Adelman Applauds Jamal Murray's Mental Toughness

Even without Murray emerging as a threat from deep–– having shot a combined 0-8 from beyond the arc on the night–– it wouldn't be without him making a notable dent on the offensive end in a variety of other ways, whether that be in the mid-range, and in drawing contact to get easy shots at the line.

To stay resilient enough to have such a potent night offensively, even having a few factors playing against him on that side of the ball deserved some notable praise at the podium from his head coach.

"There were timely shots that he made... mid-range jump shots when they were on a run, the turnaround jumper in the third quarter was an early bucket to let everybody settle back in," Adelman continued. "It was a huge bucket to just kind of silence it a little bit. So, timely shooting, unbelievable free-throw shooting, mental toughness, plus-13 for the night."

Apr 18, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (27) during the second half against the Minnesota Timberwolves in game one of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images | Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images

Adelman might've not wanted to play him for the 39 minutes he did, which came out to be the most of anyone on the team, but he undoubtedly made the most of the time he was on the floor.

And in the end, he led the way in scoring for a statement win in the playoffs. So it's hard to complain with the end result.

"I didn’t want to play him as many minutes as I did, but I felt like the fourth quarter was just one of those quarters you just go with it. I was trying to find a two-minute run to get him out, but with the lack of timeouts that I had it was hard to control that, so I let him go."

When looking at how Murray can be even better in the games ahead both in this series and anything beyond, circling his 0-8 mark from three is an easy way to see his scoring mark trend up even further from where he finished in Game 1.

In Adelman's mind, you're not going to see that type of stat line next to his name moving forward. And if that's the case, it makes the chances of Denver's success being sustainable for multiple rounds even greater.

"Yeah, he’s been so good all year," said Adelman. "He’s zero for eight from three, that’s not going to happen, you know the rhythm he’s been in. So, Jamal has been Jamal all year, tough-minded."

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