MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jamal Murray failed to make a fadeaway on Denver's first possession, then tried a floater that spun around the rim and spit out in portending fashion.
Neither of those misses hurt the normally smooth-shooting Nuggets point guard like what came next for him on defense in Minnesota in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals.
As he tried to move around a high screen by Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert early in the first quarter on Thursday night, Murray hurt his right elbow in the collision with the NBA Defensive Player of the Year's raised right elbow and immediately clutched over in pain. He flexed his arm back and forth to try to loosen up the joint as he turned up the court, but it never did.
Now he's hurting again, and so are the defending champion Nuggets. They'll host Game 7 on Sunday.
“I was never really getting into my rhythm again, and my team obviously needed me to tonight, and I didn’t,” said Murray, who also went 3 for 18 in the Game 2 loss. "So I’m disappointed in myself for not being able to give them the right production that I know I can.”
Murray finished just 4 for 18 from the floor for 10 points in the 115-70 defeat, playing 32 minutes before getting some extended rest in empty-the-bench time down the stretch as Minnesota built a lead as big as 50 points. He said he applied some numbing cream to the elbow to allow him to fully extend it on his jumpers without pain, but he never found his rhythm.
Murray, who was nagged by a strained left calf during the first-round series against the Los Angeles Lakers, has been bothered by right elbow pain in the past. He wears a protective sleeve over it.
With two off days until the decisive game instead of the typical one, Murray will have additional time to heal. Will that be enough?
“I hope, for our team's sake,” he said. “I hope I can get it right.”
This has been quite the eventful postseason for Murray, who hit two last-second game-winners to oust the Lakers in five games in the first round. Then he chucked a heat pack onto the court from the bench in Denver during a Game 2 blowout by the Wolves that drew him a $100,000 fine from the league.
He bounced back strong with 24 points to lead the Nuggets to victory in Game 3, then sank a halftime buzzer-beater from beyond half court to highlight the Game 4 win in Minnesota.
Now all eyes will be on him again in Game 7 as he tries to shake off another disruption.
“It’s all behind us now,” Murray said. “I’ve just got to get ready and be able to be better for Sunday.”
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert loses control of the basketball as Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (27) defends during the first half of Game 6 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Minnesota Timberwolves center Naz Reid (11) shoots over Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (27) during the second half of Game 6 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray walks on the court during the first half of Game 6 of the team's NBA basketball second-round playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
CHICAGO (AP) — Clarke Schmidt and Nestor Cortes combined on a four-hitter, and the New York Yankees clinched their 32nd straight winning season by blanking the Chicago Cubs 2-0 on Saturday.
Schmidt pitched 4 2/3 innings of four-hit ball in his first big league game since May 26. Cortes (9-10) closed it out in his first relief appearance since 2021.
Coupled with Baltimore's 7-1 loss to Tampa Bay, New York moved back into first in the AL East. The Yankees (82-60) lead the Orioles by a half-game.
Cortes admitted he was upset when he learned he was going to pitch in relief.
“I’m never going to back down from a challenge,” Cortes said. “I’m never going to leave my teammates out to dry. You’re always going to get my best effort no matter if I’m happy or not. That’s what I did today. I came out there and proved I can be put in any situation. From here on out, if that’s my role, I’ll accept it.”
Schmidt had been sidelined by a right lat strain. He threw 75 pitches, 44 for strikes.
"I felt like I still had a lot of strength and I wasn’t fatiguing at all,” Schmidt said.
New York posted its second straight shutout to secure its first series win since it took two of three against Colorado from Aug. 23-25. The 32 straight seasons with a winning record is the second-longest such period in major league history, trailing a run of 39 consecutive seasons for the Yankees from 1926-64.
Chicago (72-70) has lost four of five on a crucial homestand as it tries to rally in the race for the third NL wild card. It beat Pittsburgh 12-0 on Wednesday, but it has managed a total of three other runs in its last five games, getting shut out three times.
“We feel like we have a good enough ballclub to be in the playoffs and in the picture, but we’re going to have to play a little bit better and keep pushing here,” left fielder Ian Happ said.
Cubs right-hander Javier Assad (7-5) allowed one earned run and three hits in 5 2/3 innings.
New York scored its first run when Austin Wells drove in Gleyber Torres with a groundout in the first. The Yankees made it 2-0 in the sixth when Aaron Judge swiped third as part of a double steal and scampered home on catcher Christian Bethancourt’s throwing error.
Judge, who leads the majors with 51 homers, went 0 for 3 with a walk. He hasn’t homered in 11 games in his longest streak of the season.
The Cubs had their best scoring opportunity in the fifth. Pete Crow-Armstrong singled with one out, but was caught stealing. Patrick Wisdom then tripled to right, but he was stranded when Cortes got Bethancourt to foul out.
“He handled it really well, came into a high-leverage situation with a runner on third and got the job done,” Wells said of Cortes. “From there, cruised.”
Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo heard more cheers in his second game back at Wrigley Field since he was traded by Chicago to New York in July 2021. He tipped his cap before his first at-bat and reached second on Crow-Armstrong’s dropped catch in center.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Yankees: Schmidt and RHP Ian Hamilton (right lat strain) were reinstated from the 60-day injured list before the game. RHPs Phil Bickford and Nick Burdi were designated for assignment.
Cubs: LHP Justin Steele (left elbow tendinitis) was scheduled to play catch Saturday. He went on the 15-day IL on Wednesday. ... RHP Hayden Wesneski (right forearm strain) threw an inning at Triple-A Iowa.
UP NEXT
RHP Gerrit Cole (6-3, 3.65 ERA) is slated to start for New York on Sunday on his 34th birthday. RHP Jameson Taillon (9-8, 3.66 ERA) takes the mound for Chicago in the finale of the weekend set. Taillon went 22-11 with a 4.08 ERA with the Yankees in 2021 and 2022.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
New York Yankees starting pitcher Clarke Schmidt reacts in the dugout after being pulled during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Chicago, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
New York Yankees' Giancarlo Stanton, right, celebrates with teammate Gleyber Torres (25) after Torres scored on an Austin Wells ground out during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Chicago, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
Chicago Cubs starter Javier Assad delivers a pitch during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees in Chicago, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
New York Yankees' Aaron Judge celebrates with teammates in the dugout after scoring on a throwing error by the catcher during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Chicago, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
New York Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt delivers a pitch during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Chicago, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
