Jamal Murray to play through thigh injury in Game 3

Jamal Murray has been battling a thigh injury through the first two rounds of the playoffs, and it sounds like it is bothering him again heading into what could be a pivotal Game 3 against the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night.

Murray initially bruised his thigh in the Denver Nuggets’ opening-round series against the San Antonio Spurs when he ran into a screen from Jakob Poeltl. He missed the final minute or so of Game 2 on Wednesday after re-aggravating the injury on another screen play. Murray had his thigh wrapped during Denver’s shootaround on Friday, but he said he plans to play in Game 3.

Jamal Murray is definitely banged up for this #Nuggets team. Had his right thigh wrapped during shootaround and then immediately iced it during media availability.

Playing through pain is something Murray has been trained to do, and he will again tonight.

— Katy Winge (@katywinge) May 3, 2019

Murray scored just 15 points on 6-of-18 shooting Wednesday night, and the Nuggets ended up losing 97-90. He felt well enough to pick up a technical foul late in the game over an incident with Enes Kanter.

The Nuggets are obviously a much better team when Murray is at his best, but they may need other guys to step up if he’s hurting. The fact that he was hobbled just two days ago and is still receiving treatment for the injury likely means he will be playing at well below 100 percent strength.