What Happened to Jamal Murray? Struggling Nuggets Star Suffers Another Injury Scare in Finals Rematch

After being somewhat questionable for tonight’s game, Jamal Murray had suited up, only to head back into the locker room as the game reached halftime. Tonight’s Miami Heat vs Denver Nuggets was a matchup everyone was looking forward to as the Finals rematch.

Although the Nuggets are leading now, the Heat aren’t too far behind with the score at 56-51 (at the time of writing). But, unfortunately, Murray landed on Aaron Gordon’s foot as he was driving to the basket and immediately dropped to the ground, in what appears to be a right ankle sprain. And although he headed to the locker room without assistance, he was still limping.

The NBA champion has been another victim of injuries this season. He was ruled out of 16 games, of which 11 were straight due to a hamstring injury he sustained on November 6. As mentioned earlier, the team was taking it slowly with Murray owing to the bilateral tibia inflammation, which again caused him to miss a few games earlier last month.

Even though the severity of tonight’s sprain is unknown, the team has given the final verdict. And it’s not good. TNT’s Chris Haynes tweeted that Jamal Murray has been ruled out for the rest of the game.

He finished the night with six points, three assists, and one rebound in 14 minutes of game time. Without Murray on the floor, Denver has had difficulties. Their record with him is 31-12 and dropping to 9-7 without him this season. Clearly, his importance to the team is quite important.

The Nuggets are left with the choice of “managing” Jamal Murray given his injury history

On February 23rd, before the Nuggets won 127-112 against the Blazers, The Athletic’s Hollinger had caught up with HC Michael Malone to talk about Jamal Murray. His bilateral tibia inflammation, more commonly known as shin splints, was the topic of discussion. Malone said, “Every time he plays it’s gonna be an issue … He is managing an injury. It’s just something we’re just going to have to find a way to figure out.”

The key word here being managing. It wasn’t a slip of the tongue, but rather the reality of their situation. The pain that occurs in the ankle is because of continuous stress on the shin or its surrounding muscles. And the only way to completely heal it is by resting. And that is not something Denver is in a position to offer now. So, the only path to take here is to manage the injury.

Read More: Jamal Murray Takes Patrick Beverley’s Route to Prove Referees Wrong

As of now, if Murray does have to miss time, the team’s backup guard, Reggie Jackson, will take his place. But seeing as how the Nuggets have no intention of keeping Jamal away for more than necessary, it will only be a temporary position.

Hopefully, tonight’s sprain is not too severe and he can get back on the floor soon!