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 underwent surgery to repair the torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, the team announced Wednesday.
Murray, 24, sustained the injury April 12 in a game against the Golden State Warriors. His knee buckled as he drove to the basket in the final minute.
He is expected to need nine to 12 months to recover from the injury.
“He just came back,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said after the game in which Murray went down. “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 21.2 points per game along with 4.8 assists and 4.0 rebounds in 48 games (all starts) this season.
In 345 career games (271 starts), Murray has averaged 16.3 points, 3.8 assists and 3.6 rebounds. The Nuggets selected him out of Kentucky with the seventh overall pick of the 2016 NBA Draft.