Is Jamal Murray Playing Tonight vs Wolves? Nuggets’ Injury Report, Depth Chart Ahead Of Game 3

Prior to entering the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Denver Nuggets were looking to be on track to repeat their earlier success from last season. However, they hit a significant bump after losing two consecutive games against the Timberwolves. Two more losses, and they will be out of the tournament entirely. Therefore, Game 3 would demand an A-Game from the defending champions, which, unfortunately, may have to be carried out without the availability of point guard Jamal Murray.

A few hours ago, the official X account of the Denver Nuggets released details of their Injury Report. According to it, Jamal Murray continues to remain in the ‘Questionable’ category. He shares that status with shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and recently acquired point guard Reggie Jackson. In the meantime, Vlatko Čančar unsurprisingly remains ‘OUT’.

Jamal Murray first showed signs of suffering from a left calf injury during Game 4 of the Nuggets’ first-round series against the Lakers. After 39 minutes on the court, the player had to drop out in the early stages of the 4th quarter. After his injury was further diagnosed, he was listed as ‘Questionable’ for Game 5. The status continues to follow him during the semifinals as well. Despite appearing in both of the Timberwolves clashes, his current performance has deteriorated drastically due to the injury. While the player averaged 23.6 points against the Lakers, he could only accumulate 17 and 8 points during the two semifinal games. Therefore, even if Murray makes himself available for Game 3, he has a meager chance of performing exceptionally.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is a new entry to the Injury Report. After getting his name removed from the list in April, he is now back having developed a right abdominal contusion during Game 2. So far, no official details have been released about the severity of the injury. While the ‘Questionable’ tag is not a guarantee of his availability, it is also not a guarantee of his absence. Reggie Jackson, who had just recovered from a left sprained ankle, is also back after developing a Left Calf Contusion.

Unlike the Nuggets, the Anthony Edwards-led Minnesota Timberwolves have no significant player listed on the report except Jaylen Clark. However, the player has been absent from the main lineup since the beginning of the tournament. Therefore, his absence will not affect the franchise in any way.

How will the Starting Lineup and the Depth Chart look for the Nuggets-Timberwolves clash look like?

Jamal Murray’s absence may put a dent in the offensive lineup of the Denver Nuggets. Furthermore, it doesn’t help that the franchise’s secondary point guard, Reggie Jackson, is also listed as questionable. In a situation where both players would be unavailable for Game 3, the responsibility to help Nikola Jokic with the scoring effort will fall upon Christian Braun. While he only scored 7.3 points,3.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists during the regular season, he can help Nikola Jokic and co in reducing some of the scoring pressure.

Christian Braun also serves as the backup for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. However, according to reports, Justin Holiday and Peyton Watson are also standing by to take the player’s place in such a situation. By taking all of the above factors into consideration, the starting lineup for the Denver Nuggets for Game 3 is expected to look something like this:

With the exception of Jaylen Clark, no other player is set to be absent from the Milwaukee Bucks’ roster. Therefore, their starting lineup is expected to look something like this:

Despite the doubt about the availability of Jamal Murray and other Nuggets scorers, do you believe the team can secure a win against the Timberwolves? Let us know in the comments down below.