Jamal Murray #27 of the Denver Nuggets is helped off the court after an injury in their game against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center on April 12, 2021 in San Francisco, California. Ezra Shaw/Getty Images/AFP
Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray has been diagnosed with a torn anterior cruciate ligament of the left knee and is out indefinitely, the team announced Tuesday morning.
Murray, 24, sustained the injury with 50.6 seconds remaining in Denver’s 116-107 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Monday. His knee buckled as he drove toward the basket and fell to the court, immediately clutching at his left knee and then pounding the court in pain.
Jamal Murray was helped off the court after an apparent knee injury with 50 seconds left against the Warriors. pic.twitter.com/sz7akzOiq4
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 13, 2021
Murray was escorted straight to the locker room after the fall, which came at the conclusion of a 17-point night.
The Denver Post reported his recovery is expected to range from between nine to 12 months. His surgery has yet to be scheduled, per the newspaper.
“He just came back,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said following Monday’s loss. “He was gone for four days. His knee’s been bothering him. He took those four games to try to get right. First game back, obviously. It’s just an awful feeling.”
Murray averaged a team second-best 21.2 points to go along with 4.8 assists and 4.0 rebounds in 48 games (all starts) this season.
Murray has averaged 16.3 points, 3.8 assists and 3.6 rebounds in 345 career games (271 starts) since being selected by the Nuggets with the seventh overall pick of the 2016 NBA Draft.
The Nuggets are in fourth place in the Western Conference standings. They are scheduled to host the Miami Heat on Wednesday night.