He looked ready. Willing, at the worst. Jamal Murray feinted on the right wing, then bodied up his man with a spiteful smile, each bump of the backside inching the pair closer to the lane.
In one crisp motion, the Blue Arrow turned, hung in the air like 2021 never happened, and fired. Swish.
Left wing, same drill, same result. Feint. Bump. Bump. Bump. Turn. Hang. Swish.
The Nuggets’ best backcourt performance this past Friday night at Ball Arena took place 25 minutes before tipoff with Minnesota.
The most backcourt joy came from watching Murray, almost a year removed from that awful left knee tear, grinding away during warmups against Denver staffers, grinding with physicality, grinding with contact, grinding at game speed.