Nikola Jokic has one key to success for the Nuggets while Jamal Murray nurses hamstring injury

The Denver Nuggets have been struggling recently, and with three games left in the season, need to find a way to regain momentum and get back to playing Mile High basketball. With the recent news that Jamal Murray’s hamstring injury is worse than originally thought of, the team has to find a way to win without their second-best player.

Murray has missed 14 games this year for Denver, not to mention an entire season back in 2021-22, so the team knows how to play without him. However, his ball security and ability to run the offense has been dearly missed in recent games. Despite his absence, Nikola Jokic emphasized that there is one area of the game the team needs to focus on without the Blue Arrow on the floor.

“Don’t turn the ball over. We need to be organized,” Jokic said after Sunday’s loss to the Indiana Pacers. “Try to make a find and just find the quality look … Just have a decent game in the sense of not many mistakes if it’s possible.”

Denver currently ranks 17th in turnovers conceded per game with 13.7. There are only four teams in playoff position that give up more turnovers per game than Denver does. In the waning seconds of Sunday’s loss, a bad pass from Jokic on a miscommunication resulted in the team not getting a shot up while down two points, leading to a loss.

With 20 seconds left in regulation, down 2, Nikola Jokic passes to Russell Westbrook, but it is too further away for him.
What a horrible possession for the Nuggets at home. pic.twitter.com/E8proGnCTq

— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) April 7, 2025

Murray’s presence on the floor is vital for Denver’s success, especially from a ball security standpoint. Murray has committed just two turnovers per game this season, a much lower number than what both Jokic and Russell Westbrook have posted (3.3) as Denver’s other primary ball-handlers (Jalen Pickett only has 0.5 per game in a much smaller sample size).

Another aspect of Murray’s absence is Denver’s offense in clutch games when he and Jokic can run their patented two-man action. In the three ‘clutch’ games the Nuggets have played in April, all without Murray, the team has shot under 40% from the field in three losing efforts while committing the third most turnovers in the league. That is down from the rest of the season, in which the Nuggets lead the league in clutch field goal percentage and have won over half the games they have played that have gone into a clutch setting.

“[Murray’s] the one who always took and [made] the big, tough shots so we definitely miss him,” Jokic said.

While Jokic, and the rest of the team, knows that limiting turnovers is the key to success in the absence of Murray, that’s a task that’s much easier said than done. Paired with the fact that he’s a guy known for taking and making tough shots late in games, the Nuggets need him back to have any chance of making a run in the postseason.