DENVER (AP) — Point guard Jamal Murray is back and so is the Denver Nuggets' lethal two-star game alongside Nikola Jokic just in time for the playoffs.
Murray scored 15 points in his return to the Nuggets' lineup Friday night after missing six games with a sprained ankle and he hit a couple of clutch shots in the fourth quarter that helped Denver rally past the Memphis Grizzlies 117-109.
Jokic had his 34th triple-double of the season and in the process became just the third player in NBA history to average a triple-double for the season, joining his current teammate Russell Westbrook and Basketball Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson.
Jokic looked much more comfortable with Murray back on the court with him.
“You could tell he was exhausted,” interim coach David Adelman said. "Jamal is so interesting. The harder it gets, the more tired he gets, the better he plays, as we all know. And to watch those guys play the two-man game at the end, I'd buy a ticket to watch that. It's beautiful.
"And they take their time, they take what's there. It's never forced. And the unselfishness of the other three guys to get out of the way ... and watch those guys play, it's been working for a long time. It's historically incredible to watch. Like I said, it's a playoff game. And those two guys, when it gets really intense, it seems like they breathe real easy.”
The Nuggets closed the game on a 14-1 run and Adelman said, “One point given up in the last six minutes is absolutely incredible. It looked like who we've been. We're a team that's won big games for a long time. We understand the DNA of that kind of game. and we have it, and those guys just stayed with it.”
Murray had a pair of baskets in the closing run to finish 5-of-12 from the floor while Jokic scored eight of his 26 points in those final six minutes of dominance.
“I was trying to shoot myself into rhythm,” Murray said. “It's been six games. That's enough to take you out of your rhythm a little bit. ... It was good to see the ball go in, but I'm just happy for everybody that got in the game. Everybody played well, we played with energy and urgency like there was something on the line because there was.”
Murray logged 32 minutes in his return. He also had seven assists and five defensive rebounds.
Murray had last played March 26 against the Milwaukee Bucks. During his absence, the Nuggets lost a season-high four consecutive games, a skid that culminated with the Tuesday firings of coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth, who helped bring Denver its first NBA title in 2023 but who had long clashed.
Denver, which snapped its skid with a 124-116 win at Sacramento on Thursday night, is 2-0 under Adelman. The Nuggets wrap up the regular season Sunday at Houston.
Josh Kroenke, the vice chairman of Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, said he was hopeful the odd timing of the dismissals would spark the Nuggets heading into the playoffs.
“If that doesn't spark you up, then something's wrong with you, bro,” Murray said.
A favorite of Malone's, Murray added, "Coach always had my back from a young kid coming into this league up until now. He's always rooted for me. He always had my back and was always getting me in good spirits, so I want to give that same energy to him, the same kind of respect. We don't get here without him.
“He always hated to lose. He was always setting the tone in that regard. So, it (stinks) to see him go like that, especially the way it happened this late. But we're still going to maintain contact.”
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Injured Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, center, looks on from the bench in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Indiana Pacers, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Ahn Sung-ki, one of South Korean cinema’s biggest stars whose prolific 60-year career and positive, gentle public image earned him the nickname “The Nation’s Actor,” died Monday. He was 74.
Ahn, who had suffered blood cancer for years, was pronounced dead at Seoul's Soonchunhyang University Hospital, his agency, the Artist Company, and hospital officials said.
“We feel deep sorrow at the sudden, sad news, pray for the eternal rest of the deceased and offer our heartfelt condolences to his bereaved family members," the Artist Company said in a statement.
President Lee Jae Myung issued a condolence message saying Ahn provided many people with comfort, joy and time for reflection. “I already miss his warm smile and gentle voice,” Lee wrote on Facebook.
Born to a filmmaker in the southeastern city of Daegu in 1952, Ahn made his debut as a child actor in the movie “The Twilight Train” in 1957. He subsequently appeared in about 70 movies as a child actor before he left the film industry to live an ordinary life.
In 1970, Ahn entered Seoul’s Hankuk University of Foreign Studies as a Vietnamese major. Ahn said he graduated with top honors but failed to land jobs at big companies, who likely saw his Vietnamese major largely useless after a communist victory in the Vietnam War in 1975.
Ahn returned to the film industry in 1977 believing he could still excel in acting. In 1980, he rose to fame for his lead role in Lee Jang-ho’s “Good, Windy Days,” a hit coming-of-age movie about the struggle of working-class men from rural areas during the country’s rapid rise. Ahn won the best new actor award in the prestigious Grand Bell Awards, the Korean version of the Academy Awards.
He later starred in a series of highly successful and critically acclaimed movies, sweeping best actor awards and becoming arguably the country’s most popular actor in much of the 1980-90s.
Some of his memorable roles included a Buddhist monk in 1981’s “Mandara,” a beggar in 1984’s “Whale Hunting,” a Vietnam War veteran-turned-novelist in 1992’s “White Badge,” a corrupt police officer in 1993’s “Two Cops,” a murderer in 1999’s “No Where To Hide,” a special forces trainer in 2003’s “Silmido” and a devoted celebrity manager in 2006’s “Radio Star.”
Ahn had collected dozens of trophies in major movie awards in South Korea, including winning the Grand Bell Awards for best actor five times, an achievement no other South Korean actors have matched yet.
Ahn built up an image as a humble, trustworthy and family-oriented celebrity who avoided major scandals and maintained a quiet, stable personal life. Past public surveys chose Ahn as South Korea’s most beloved actor and deserving of the nickname “The Nation’s Actor.”
Ahn said he earlier felt confined with his “The Nation's Actor” labeling but eventually thought that led him down the right path. In recent years, local media has given other stars similar honorable nicknames, but Ahn was apparently the first South Korean actor who was dubbed “The Nation's Actor.”
“I felt I should do something that could match that title. But I think that has eventually guided me on a good direction,” Ahn said in an interview with Yonhap news agency in 2023.
In media interviews, Ahn couldn’t choose what his favorite movie was, but said that his role as a dedicated, hardworking manger for a washed-up rock singer played by Park Jung-hoon resembled himself in real life the most.
Ahn was also known for his reluctance to do love scenes. He said said he was too shy to act romantic scenes and sometimes asked directors to skip steamy scenes if they were only meant to add spice to movies.
“I don’t do well on acting like looking at someone who I don’t love with loving eyes and kissing really romantically. I feel shy and can’t express such emotions well,” Ahn said in an interview with the Shindonga magazine in 2007. “Simply, I’m clumsy on that. So I couldn’t star in such movies a lot. But ultimately, that was a right choice for me.”
Ahn is survived by his wife and their two sons. A mourning station at a Seoul hospital was to run until Friday.
FILE - South Korean actor Ahn Sung-ki smiles for a photo on the red carpet at the 56th Daejong Film Awards ceremony in Seoul, South Korea, June 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)
FILE - South Korean actor Ahn Sung-ki attends an event as part of the 11th Pusan International Film Festival in Busan, South Korea, Oct. 13, 2006. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)
