When the Denver Nuggets left their home court after being beaten by the New York Knicks by nearly 30 points, Jamal Murray wasn't in a very good mood. Yes, his team technically has a winning record, beat the Los Angeles Lakers on the road, and remain tightly in the West's playoff picture, but the team has simply looked… off so far, with their Championship win feeling further and further away with each passing L.
Sitting down with reporters to discuss what went wrong against a Knicks team that took the lead in the first quarter and never gave it back before the clock hit quadruple zeros, Murray blamed his entire team for not being committed to winning, as it feels like a collection of individuals worried about their self-interests instead of a cohesive unit.
“It's a long season. Guys have lives outside of basketball. We just beat LA in LA. We've got some guys who live in LA, so stayed in LA. And like I said, I just don't think the focus was there from everybody and that's what happens when you don't have the focus,” Murray told reporters.
“Like I said, it's not on coach, it's not on the plays we're running, it's not on anybody else but the guys who are out there on the court. Like I said, it's a tough one to go back and watch or even accept, but it was expected that that's the kind of energy the whole team will bring to start the game and continuously not have a response. That's what happens. We've been on the other side of it, I've been on the other side of it, and tonight, we were on the wrong end.”
Is Murray's assertion correct? Is the Nuggets' biggest issue their commitment to winning? Or has the team simply been dealt a bad hand, with poor free agency decisions and injuries chipping away at what used to be widely considered the early makings of an NBA dynasty?
While each opinion on that subject may vary, if Murray is outright calling out his teammates for not trying hard enough, with everyone in the locker room knowing who does or doesn't live in LA, it sure feels like things might boil over in the worst possible way in the not-too-distant future, with something needing to happen to salvage a season that could drastically take a turn for the fire before fans can say “trade deadline.”
