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Jamal Murray did not hide behind excuses after the Denver Nuggets’ 119-114 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night at Ball Arena. The guard pointed directly at execution in key moments.
“You got to make shots to do it. And I didn’t make enough shots tonight,” Murray said. “So that’s really about it. We got the looks, played good offense, played good defense. Shots didn’t drop.”
Denver built strong stretches on offense but could not sustain efficiency in the closing minutes. The missed opportunities became the central theme of Murray’s postgame assessment.
“We got the shots you wanted. It just didn’t happen,” Murray said. “We had the game in our hands and we just didn’t make enough shots in my opinion.”
The Nuggets held control for long stretches but failed to close the fourth quarter. Murray pointed to shared responsibility rather than singling out any one possession or player.
“I missed three, four shots before that. It’s going to happen. It’s part of it,” he said. “We all got to be better. We all could have played better. It’s not on one person.”
Minnesota capitalized late, including a crucial stretch at the free-throw line that flipped momentum. Murray emphasized the need to execute cleanly in late-game sequences.
“We just need a bucket,” he said when breaking down the final possession. “If I hit the shot, we inbound it. They inbound it. They had Rudy and somebody else out there. I think we could have fouled him, called timeout.”
Denver also struggled on the glass, particularly in second-chance situations where Minnesota finished with a significant edge. Murray highlighted that as a decisive factor in the loss.
“Just more focus, more awareness,” he said. “We got to grab the board first. Even if it slows our pace down a little bit.”
He added that the team may need to trade transition opportunities for defensive control on the glass.
“We might sacrifice some transition buckets or opportunities, but hopefully we limit them to one shot over and over and execute in the half court,” Murray said.
Defensively, Murray felt Denver’s effort was competitive enough to win.
“I thought it was solid,” he said. “It’s just tough. You play good defense, you don’t make shots in the first quarter and the fourth quarter and it comes back to bite you.”
The series now shifts with both teams tied, and Murray framed the loss as one that comes down to small margins and late execution.
“It was a stinger but we’ll be all right,” he said. “We just didn’t get the job done in the last couple minutes.”
