Denver Gazette beat writer Vinny Benedetto takes you around the NBA and inside the Nuggets locker room:

NBA Insider

OKLAHOMA CITY — It looked in Game 1 like Jamal Murray was going to add to his resume as one of the NBA’s elite playoff performers.

In the first quarter of Denver’s 121-119 comeback win over the top-seeded Thunder, Murray didn’t have much trouble despite being guarded by fellow Canadian Luguentz Dort, who’s regarded as one of the game’s tougher perimeter defenders. He scored 12 of his 21 points in the first quarter, making 4 of 7 shots from the field.

“It’s just fun,” Murray said Tuesday at Paycom Center of the matchup. “It’s always competitive. That’s the biggest thing.”

Five of the nine points he scored the rest of the way came via free throws. He had 14 points at halftime and missed all four of his field goal attempts in the third quarter before contributing four points — a tough mid-range pull-up jumper over Alex Caruso and a pair of free throws — during Denver’s fourth-quarter comeback. He heard about the drop off in production from Shaquille O’Neal during a postgame interview on TNT.

“You know and I know they’re going to need you to play at a super-high level if you want to win another championship,” O’Neal said, prefacing a question about Murray finishing 6 of 16 from the field.

Murray is aware of his importance to Denver’s chances to upset the Thunder — let alone win two more series.

“(Shoot), I want me to do it as well,” Murray said. “I don’t need Shaq to say it.”

Denver’s point guard is so vital to Denver’s chances that interim coach David Adelman has made a point of getting the ball out of Murray’s hands to start possessions at times. Improved ball-handling and playmaking from the likes of Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun have made it easier for Murray to operate off the ball, which saves him some energy.

“He’s been the lead ballhandler, because he’s been the only one outside of Nikola (Jokic) a little bit. Being able to have him run down the court, not have to bring the ball up against Lu Dort and then also facilitate and then also get into an ATO (after timeout) where it’s for him … that’s asking too much of any player in the NBA,” Adelman said.

“When you have multiple players who can do that, it just saves your best players, and it saves them for the fourth quarter where they have a little bit of their legs left. You can’t ask them to do everything at once.”

Murray had to do that in the past and proved he was up to the tall task. He made a name for himself as a playoff performer by averaging 26.5 points, 6.6 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game in Denver’s run to the conference finals in 2020. After missing the next two postseasons due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament, Murray was back to his old ways, averaging 26.1 points, 7.1 assists and 5.7 rebounds in the Nuggets’ 2023 championship run.

A calf strain complicated last season’s run, but Murray still hit two memorable game-winners in a five-game series against the Lakers and showed up for Denver’s Game 7 loss to the Timberwolves with 35 points.

The 28-year-old’s best game this postseason was a 43-point, seven-assist, five-rebound performance in a pivotal Game 5 win over the Clippers at Ball Arena.

It looked like Murray was on pace for another monster performance Monday in Oklahoma City. That didn’t pan out, but he did enough other stuff with six rebounds and six assists to help the Nuggets earn their fifth win of the postseason — as 9.5-point underdogs.

“As long as we win and you contribute to winning,” Murray said. “I didn’t play amazing, but I played solid enough to do my job and get the win.”

What I’m Thinking

Aaron Gordon’s confident, game-winning 3 wasn’t the only new wrinkle the Nuggets displayed in the final seconds of Game 1.

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“I’m trying to think back, we’ve never really had breakdown, drive-and-kick kind of guards,” Adelman said. “We never have. We’ve had very organized skillset basketball players. That’s their strength.”

Enter Russell Westbrook.

After Chet Holmgren left the door wide open for Denver by missing both of his free throws in a one-point game with 10 seconds left, Christian Braun grabbed the defensive rebound and passed ahead to Westbrook on the right wing.

“He’s a big-time player,” Murray said. “Late in the clock, late in the game, high-pressure situations, he’s always ready to go for whatever it is.”

Jalen Williams was positioned between Westbrook and the basket, but Chet Holmgren had enough respect for the veteran guard’s burst that he retreated into the paint to offer help instead of sticking to Gordon, who enjoyed a career-best 3-point percentage this season.

It was a wrap after that.

“I saw Chet in the paint. My job is to drive and kick,” Westbrook said. “AG was ready to shoot it. He’s been making big shots all year long. I knew it was good when it left his hands, to be honest.”

Nikola Jokic has MVP vibes in Denver Nuggets’ Game 1 win over Oklahoma City Thunder

What They’re Saying

In what was one of the cuter moments of the postseason, Gordon brought his nephews to the podium after his game-winning shot Monday in Oklahoma City. One of the boys was asked about their reaction to their uncle’s big shot.

“We cheered, like, a lot,” he said.

Gordon was then asked what advice he would have for those boys as they grew up.

“It gets greater later,” Gordon said. “Stick with it, be a demonstration of resilience.”

Mark Kiszla: The tag team of Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon pins shocking loss on Oklahoma City in NBA playoffs

What I’m Following

—Oklahoma City’s Sam Presti was voted the NBA’s Executive of the Year on Tuesday. Presti received 10 first-place votes to beat out Cleveland’s Koby Altman and Detroit’s Trajan Langdon. Presti’s most impactful moves this season included acquiring defensive pest Alex Caruso from Chicago for Josh Giddey and signing starting center Isaiah Hartenstein away from the Knicks.

Russell Westbrook gets warm welcome in shocking upset at Oklahoma City | Nuggets notes

—Gregg Popovich legendary coaching career ended this week, but he’s still going to be heavily involved in the Spurs. San Antonio said Popovich, a graduate of the Air Force Academy, will primarily focus on his role as the franchise’s president of basketball operations. Mitch Johnson, who served as the team’s interim coach after Popovich had a stroke in November, was promoted to be Popovich’s successor.