When the Denver Nuggets entered the Western Conference playoffs last year, they were without starting guard Jamal Murray, who suffered a season-ending torn left ACL in April. Tuesday happens to mark the one-year anniversary of his injury, and the former first-round pick has missed all of this season recovering. Dating back to last spring, Murray has been sidelined for 110 total games.
There's a strong possibility the number increases this weekend, when Denver (48-34) begins its first-round playoff series against the Golden State Warriors. Nuggets head coach Mike Malone recently told reporters that Murray has yet to feel confident about his surgically repaired knee, and the buildup has been mentally challenging. At this moment, Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth considers Murray as day-to-day.
"I think that the overarching message is that, every day, Jamal's feeling better. Part of the ACL and the return from that injury is mental -- as well as physical," Booth told The Zach Gelb Show on Monday. "With mind and body in the right place, and feeling good enough that he can participate, it does become a bit more challenging, when talking about the difference in intensity between the regular season and postseason. But we all have our fingers crossed.
"And hope, at some point, that we stay in there long enough where he can return to the court... It's day by day. Nobody but Jamal knows how he feels on any given day, how much more confidence he has. There's no big secret being held. I think everyone's in the dark as much as the outside, the media, and the fans. The only person who really knows how close he is to returning is Jamal. So, we just have to continue to monitor him and support him..."
Prior to the knee injury last spring, Murray averaged a career-high 21.2 points with 4.8 assists, 4.0 rebounds, and a .477 field-goal percentage in 48 games. Murray isn't the only key contributor who has an unclear return date. Michael Porter Jr. underwent back surgery in December, and according to Booth, his injury status is also considered as day-to-day. The Nuggets should err on the side of caution with Porter Jr. and Murray -- they're playing on max contracts.
Denver, which clinched the sixth seed in the West, will visit Golden State for Game 1 on Saturday night, with tipoff scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET. According to FiveThirtyEight's projections, the Nuggets have been given a 20-percent chance to reach the conference semifinals and a 7-percent chance to make the West finals. The franchise has never made an NBA Finals appearance.
The entire Nuggets conversation between Booth and Gelb can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow The Zach Gelb Show on Twitter @ZachGelb and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.
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