Jamal Murray: “I love competing against Dame”

One person is excited to match up against Damian Lillard in the upcoming series between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Denver Nuggets: Jamal Murray. Murray, who hit a clutch shot with 36.8 seconds left in Saturday night’s contest against the San Antonio Spurs to win the Nuggets’ first round series, explained his excitement to Dwight Jaynes of NBC Sports Northwest. Jaynes asked about the backcourt matchup, and Murray had this to say:

I love competing against Dame; he’s a competitor. He goes at you, doesn’t disrespect you, he just plays the right way, plays for his team, plays for his city, so I love going against him, it’s going to be a challenge. It’s going to be a lot of fun. It’s going to be a great series, so I’m excited.

Against the Spurs in Game 7 of the series, Murray had 23 points, five rebounds, and four assists. Over the series, he averaged 19 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game. While it isn’t necessarily the matchup to watch—that honor belongs to Nikola Jokic and whoever faces him out of the Blazers personnel—it is something to keep an eye on.