Renck: Nuggets guard Jamal Murray embraces villain role, embarrasses Timberwolves in Game 3 blowout

Jamal Murray of the Denver Nuggets locks in as Mike Conley of the Minnesota Timberwolves brings the ball up court during the third quarter at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Friday, May 10, 2024. MINNEAPOLIS –

You could have cooked Smores over what happened next. Murray stopped and started more than a New York taxi, then delivered a reverse layup and chirped to the crowd. This seemed unthinkable a week ago as the Nuggets star stumbled, bumbled and fumbled through two of the worst postseason games of his career.

It was like they had charisma bypass surgery. They went from whining and tired to whaling on the Timberwolves. They delivered their best first quarter of the postseason. They owned a 56-41 lead at half and a 93-66 advantage after three in the 117-90 rout., believing what happened last May was because of Jokic and sprinkles of pixie dust. Friday, the Nuggets stopped being reactionary. Passiveness became a stranger.

It all started with Murray. While Jokic is the engine of this team, Murray is the vibe. He was more of a character than a man of character in the two losses. Friday, he flourished in the aura of anger. The more hostile the crowd became, the better he played. The redder in the face the Timberwolves got — and man did the Nuggets benefit from a tightly called game by Tony Brothers’ officiating crew — the steadier Murray became.

It was enough to make Nuggets Nation smile. Murray did not just lead the Nuggets to a win. He rubbed it in. The only thing missing was the tip of his black cowboy hat.Colorado weather: Heavy snow, rain showers to drench mountains, metro areaKeeler: O, Captain! Avalanche needs leader to deliver message to Stars goon Jamie Benn that Gabe Landeskog can't

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