Murray's elbow is hurting after early injury and 4-for-18 shooting night in Game 6 flop by Nuggets

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.”

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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)

PHOENIX (AP) — A judge on Friday rejected an effort by GOP lawmakers to use the term “unborn human being” to refer to a fetus in the pamphlet that Arizona voters will use to weigh a ballot measure that would expand abortion access in the state.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Christopher Whitten said the wording the legislative council suggested is “packed with emotion and partisan meaning” and asked for what he called more “neutral” language. The measure aims to expand abortion access from 15 weeks to 24 weeks – the point at which a fetus can survive outside the womb.

It would allow exemptions to save the woman’s life or to protect her physical or mental health. It would also prevent the state from adopting or enforcing laws that would forbid access to the procedure.

Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma, who is a co-chair of the legislative council, said the group will appeal the court’s decision to the state Supreme Court.

“The ruling is just plain wrong and clearly partisan,” said Toma, a Republican.

The State Supreme Court has until Aug. 27 to rule on the appeal for the language to be changed.

Aaron Thacker, communications director for Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, noted that the final decision on the ballot itself remains in the air.

“There’s still a lot of scenarios at play," he said. "Even after the secretary certifies the signatures, the courts have to decide if counties can put it on the ballot or not."

Arizona for Abortion Access, the organization leading the ballot measure campaign, sued the council earlier this month over the suggested language and advocated for the term “fetus,” which the council rejected.

Attorney General Kris Mayes wrote in a motion to submit an amicus brief that “fetus" and “pregnancy” are both neutral terms that the council could adopt.

“It’s incredibly important to us that Arizona voters get to learn more about and weigh our measure in objective and accurate terminology,” said Dawn Penich, communications director for the abortion access group.

Democrats have centered abortion rights in their campaigns in this year’s elections. Organizers in five other states have also proposed similar measures that would codify abortion access in their state constitutions: Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada and South Dakota.

Arizona organizers submitted more than double the amount of signatures needed for the measure to appear on the ballot.

FILE - Arizona abortion-rights supporters deliver over 800,000 petition signatures to the capitol to get abortion rights on the November general election ballot July 3, 2024, in Phoenix. A judge on Friday, July 26, rejected an effort by GOP lawmakers to use the term “unborn human being” to refer to a fetus in the pamphlet that Arizona voters will use to decide on a ballot measure that would expand abortion access in the state. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)