Coach Michael Malone described Jamal Murray’s injury as one that ‘can stick around for a while’

Jamal Murray only got to play the first 8 minutes of this weekend’s matchup between Denver and Chicago before falling to injury. The reigning champion left the match to never return with right hamstring tightness, and only posted two points and two rebounds. 

This meant that Reggie Jackson had the oppotunity of getting extended minutes and filling in his shoes, scoring 16 off the bench and tying his season-high points per game. “Tried to adapt to the environment,” he said. “Just figure out how to not mess it up and then be aggressive in the spots that I can be aggressive in. That group really knows how to play off each other, so you have to be in the proper spacing and it makes it easy.”

After Jamal left the arena with a slight limp, his head coach Michael Malone addressed the media despite previously not speaking to his medical staff. He shared that “you always worry about those kinds of injuries because they can stick around for a while.”

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Here's what we know about the Jamal Murray injury.https://t.co/CjXHyJM1nn

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Nikola Jokic fell short of yet another triple-double as he registered 28 points, 16 rebounds and 9 assists. “It is fun to be his teammate,” Jackson shared after the victory. “It’s fun to watch him operate and see how dominant he is. Not just because he’s one of the biggest guys on the court, but his mind. Like, he really uses that thing to the best of his abilities… he was in command the whole game.”

On the other hand, Michael Porter Jr. scored a season-best 27 while Aaron Gordon had 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Nuggets, which has won all four of its home games. The team proved to have roster depth despite losing point guard Jamal Murray.

Another athlete who also saw some play time with Jamal leaving the game was Collin Gillespie, who missed last season with an injury. The young player dropped in his first-ever career three-pointer late in the fourth quarter, and gave Denver a 23-point lead.

“It was fun being out there for the first time playing real NBA minutes,” Gillespie shared. “Step in for (Jamal) and do whatever I could do to help the team win.”

Chicago shot efficiently against the reigning champs, but lacked defense when truly needed

The Bulls shot 43.5% in their 123-101 loss to the Nuggets, with Nikola Vucevic hitting 19 points, DeMar DeRozan 17, Jalen Carter 16 and Zach LaVine 12 on 4-of-12 shooting. However, they allowed their rivals to drop 70% in the fourth quarter.

“I feel good when Zach shoots the ball, when Vuc shoots the ball or DeMar shoots the ball,” Chicago coach Billy Donovan said postgame. “I’d be concerned the quality and number of shots.”

Back on March 8, the Bulls had conquered their previous meeting in Colorado. This time around, the Nuggets coach believe his team is still feeding off last season’s championship run and is living up to the responsibility of being the NBA’s title holders.

“There has been no (championship) hangover coming into the season. There has been no, like, ‘Well, we can just turn it on at some point, we’re the defending champions.’ That’s not who we are. That’s not who we’ve ever been, and I would never allow that to happen,” explained Michael Malone. “But our guys, to give them a lot of credit, they’ve understood the responsibility that comes along with winning a championship and they’ve, for most of the nights this year, come out with the proper mindset and approach.”