DALLAS — Jamal Murray has a tendency to make situations more difficult on himself.
When he slithers around a ball screen from Nikola Jokic or isolates in open space, his instinct and his dribble often compel him inside the 3-point arc, where contested jump shots are considered equally challenging but less valuable.
When he was a rising prospect in high school, “at first he would make 100 free throws every day,” his former coach Larry Blunt recalled. “And then it got to the point when he would make 100 straight, so he would try to do it with his eyes closed.