Jamal Murray makes NBA history with 45-point outburst

The Nuggets recognized early that Murray had the hot hand and kept feeding him, with Nikola Jokic attempting only two shots through the first 24 minutes. 

Murray's early flurry meant that he scored 32 of his 45 points in the first half, becoming only the fourth Nugget in the play-by-play era to do so. Furthermore, with his fourth career 45-point game, he eclipsed every Nuggets guard in history for most such outings. 

During the pregame show on TNT, Murray copped criticism from Shaquille O'Neal for his inconsistency and for not being a reliable co-star to Jokic. 

"Mr. Murray, where have you been?" Shaq asked Murray while suggesting that the guard holds the key to Denver's title hopes.

After the game, Murray conceded that O'Neal was spot on with his assessment and admitted he had to become more consistent. 

"He's 100% right," Murray said of O'Neal's comments. "In games like these, when I'm on, there's nothing to worry about. That's the sense of the group. When Yoke [Jokic] is going, he's going, but when I'm going, there's nothing to worry about... I need to play better. I need to play at my best. I played terrible until today and I've struggled."

If Murray can build off his performance on Tuesday, the Nuggets will be a tough team to contend with in the 2024-25 playoffs. Denver (+1700) has the sixth-shortest odds to win the championship, per ESPN BET.