Jamal Murray playoff boost - best ever?

[Carbine]

I can't find anyone comparable through 2 rounds since 1980

He went from 18.5 to 27.1 PPG

4.8 APG to 6.4

Bumped up his shooting percentages in every category.

[StrongLurk]

Biggest I've seen recently that went past 1 round of the playoffs.

He basically went from Jamal Murray - a top 20-30 player - to Steph Curry (superstar) these playoffs.

He is averaging 9ppg more than the regular season and shooting 15% better from three. I said it before game 7 last night, Murray will probably never play this well again across multiple playoff series.

[BigtimeNBAFan]

Yeah there has been some round 1 boosts. This is something else.

[Gudo]

Rondo will bring his numbers and confidence down

[jlip]

He honestly was not playing that well during the Clippers' series, at least not as a scorer. Until his explosion last night, he was averaging 19.7ppg on 41.5% shooting. Even including his 40 point game last evening, he averaged 22.6ppg on 44.7% shooting. That's more than his regular season scoring but not earth shattering. It was his outburst against the Jazz that was anomalous.

[Real Men Wear Green]

He may fall back to normal next year but right now he's a superstar.

[MaxPlayer]

Jerry West went from 31.0 PPG in the regular season to 40.6 in the postseason in 1965, so a slightly larger gain in PPG.

MJ went from 22.8 to 43.7(!) in '86 but it was only 3 games.

[AirTupac]

Thought he was super cringe and whack when he clowned Lonzo. Ive done almost a 180 on him. Guy knew he was better than Zo and proved it back then and now hes arguably a star. Also Pube Jordan is his nickname and its amazing.

[BigtimeNBAFan]

He was very efficient in game 6. Even in game 5 he was 5 of 7 from 3. You are right that Jokic was the MVP of the series though.

[rawimpact]

Biggest thing with young guys is consistency.

I'm surprised his play from last round carried over to the Clippers.

I know being a young skill guard he's going to feast against the lakers.

[AirTupac]

Biggest thing with young guys is consistency.

I'm surprised his play from last round carried over to the Clippers.

I know being a young skill guard he's going to feast against the lakers.


Lakers have the best defense in the NBA. Look at Dame, CJ, Harden, Westbrook. You think we'll get decimated by a lesser player? He'll put up his points and be good, probably great. And still Lakers goin in dat booty.

[Clifton]

Bubble boost.

If he were traveling and playing in different arenas every night, he wouldn't be doing this.

What I'll be curious to see is how much of this improvement is permanent. Even if we say, his point guard, or his coach, or his situation made him the player he is- as Dirk is never a winner without Kidd and Chandler, Lebron never attains demigod status until Wade and Riley teach him how- the fact remains players become the players they become. Lowry was the worst playoff performer in the league for about 5 straight years. Now he's Chauncey Billups, because he had one good finals game and won a ring. And he is Chauncey Billups! He's a different player now. And I think Murray will be a different player from now on, too.

But IMO this doesn't happen if not for the bubble. (It also doesn't happen if not for Jokic, but that almost goes without saying)

[Tobio-Star]

He may fall back to normal next year but right now he's a superstar.

Why? You really think you can become this good in 2 consecutive series even when defenses are targeting you every single play out of pure luck?

This might be the version of Curry I actually enjoy watching. He doesnt just shoot, at one point he even dunked on George and almost dunked on Kawhi

[Real Men Wear Green]

Why? You really think you can become this good in 2 consecutive series even when defenses are targeting you every single play out of pure luck?

This might be the version of Curry I actually enjoy watching. He doesnt just shoot, at one point he even dunked on George and almost dunked on Kawhi

I am not predicting regression. I am just saying it's possible. Plenty of guys like Nick Van Exel and Jason Terry that have a few great playoff series but were otherwise not great players just good.

[FireDavidKahn]

Getting his patchy ass sucked transformed him.

[Roundball_Rock]

True--but the obvious distinction is the layoff from March to the resumption of play was the equivalent of a full offseason. When you look at it that way his leap to stardom is not surprising given his age.

As to the specific numbers, most of it is his growth as a player but some of it obviously is the general bubble inflation for nearly every star (Playoff P and Giannis seem to be the only exceptions).

[hold this L]

Second round was far more the norm, it's basically padded where he exploded vs the Jazz. Lets see how he does vs the Lakers. Obviously I hope he shoots better than vs the Clippers, but I'm skeptical.

[imdaman99]

He's been great this bubble playoffs. But I can't tell if it'll translate well to when we go back to regular basketball next season (hopefully). MPJ is gonna take a step forward and that means less shots for Murray (probably). Which is not a bad thing at all, the Nuggets are a well balanced team with Jokic as the PG. I thought it wasn't sustainable but he's proven me wrong.

[Whoah10115]

It's not a single run push. He looks like something else.

[Gohan]

Russell Westbrook has a great playoff series against Paul and the clippers but after that he regressed back to normal Westbrook

[jayfan]

I can't find anyone comparable through 2 rounds since 1980

He went from 18.5 to 27.1 PPG

4.8 APG to 6.4

Bumped up his shooting percentages in every category.


That 'boost' is due in no small part to the fact that Will Barton, their #3 in scoring & assists, has been out the entire playoff.

Based on that, it can't be the best ever.

.

[NuggetsFan]

Every Nuggets fan always knew he had superstar potential and could be in the group with the other elite scoring PG's but he's just been super inconsistent. Even now as a Nuggets fan I wouldn't be shocked to see him average 18 PPG on bad shooting next series, or if he only averages 20 PPG next year. He's finally shooting like he was supposed too. For his entire career he just has too many stretches where he can't shoot like he should be able too. He's always been pretty clutch tho.

Also Jokic is entirely different in the playoffs. He has way too many games in the regular season where you can tell he doesn't feel like scoring. In the playoffs the Nuggets go to the 2 man game of Jokic/Murray more than they do in the regular season. That's helped out Murray quite a bit.

He had some big moments in last years playoffs too. That huge game vs S.A in round one where he went off in the second half. Had the back to back 34 point games in the 2nd round vs Portland. He's took another leap this year, and even still has had some streaky games.

[MaxPlayer]

That 'boost' is due in no small part to the fact that Will Barton, their #3 in scoring & assists, has been out the entire playoff.

Based on that, it can't be the best ever.

.

So true. No Will Barton =

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