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NBA Fans Are Noticing The Bubble Version Of Jamal Murray Is Back For The Denver Nuggets

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nuggets guard Jamal Murray

Getty Image / Matthew Stockman


The “Bubble” of the 2020 NBA Playoffs is probably the defining sporting event of the COVID pandemic. The self-contained playoffs occurred at Disney’s ESPN Wide World Of Sports in Orlando. All NBA teams that qualified for the bubble, 22 in all, stayed on-site at Disney properties with incredibly strict COVID protocols and restrictions on travel and interactions with those outside of the Bubble. And, it was a resounding success. Zero players tested positive for the entirety of the Bubble, and the season concluded with the Los Angeles Lakers winning a title. Some players played the best basketball of their lives in the bubble, and one of those was Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray.

Murray has always been a good NBA player, and the 7th-overall pick in the 2016 draft out of Kentucky has always been able to flat-out score the basketball. But, he was a savant in The Bubble. Murray averaged an astounding 26.5 points on 50.5% shooting in the 2020 NBA playoffs and helped the Denver Nuggets reach the Western Conference Finals. He was sensational all summer long, showing off elite three-level scoring and fantastic three-point shooting, at over 45%.

But, Jamal Murray has struggled with injuries since, tearing his ACL in the 20202-2021 season, and had not played in a playoff game since the bubble until this year’s first-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves. But, he’s picked up right where he left off. After an excellent 24-point, 8-rebound, 8-assist performance in the first game of the series, an easy Nuggets win, Murray truly returned to his Bubble form in game two Wednesday night. He had 40 points for the Nuggets in a back-and-forth affair that saw Denver blow a big halftime lead, only to take over the fourth quarter.

And, people are drawing parallels to his excellent Bubble performance.

And, Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic thinks that Jamal Murray is playing even better than he was in The Bubble. That’s saying something.

The Nuggets are in serious control of this series as they head to Minnesota for two games. Game 3 is on Saturday, and Jamal Murray will try to continue his impressive playoff form.

Garrett Carr BroBible avatar
Garrett Carr is an editor at BroBible with an expertise in NFL and other major professional sports. He is a graduate of Penn State University and resides in Pennsylvania. Garrett is a diehard Penn State, New York Mets, and New York Knicks fan.
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