NBA News Update: LeBron James leaves Mike Malone awestruck, Jamal Murray reveals the reason for his sub-par Game 5 performance

The LA Lakers closed the Western Conference Finals series against the Denver Nuggets courtesy of a classic LeBron James performance. A loss in Game 5 meant that the Denver Nuggets' dream season was brought to an end. They surprised NBA fans around the globe with their unbelievable never-say-die spirit to come back from two 1-3 series deficits. Unfortunately, the LA Lakers were a little too tough to beat, and the Denver Nuggets' thoughts on the same make up this NBA news update.

Denver Nuggets coach praised LA Lakers star LeBron James for his ridiculous performance down the stretch, to which his team had no answer. The Denver Nuggets lost valuable minutes of star center Nikola Jokic as he ran into early foul trouble, and while Jamal Murray has previously carried the offensive burden in his absence, there was a specific reason why he failed to do so on this occasion.

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NBA News Update: Mike Malone praises LeBron James as the LA Lakers star sinks Denver Nuggets

NBA News Update: Mike Malone heaped praise on LeBron James and was proud of his team's effort

Mike Malone was defeated at the end of Game 5 but was certainly not deflated as he was happy to talk about the encounter that had just taken place, which had all but sealed the Denver Nuggets' fate for the remainder of the season.

Mike Malone felt that his team could be proud of themselves as it took the performance of one of the all-time greats, LeBron James, to close out the series. Malone lauded the NBA legend at the end of the game, saying that he did what great players do.

Michael Malone on LeBron: "He took over like great players (do)."

— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) September 27, 2020

Michael Malone: "Step back and marvel at what LeBron is doing at this stage of his career... and take whatever team he is on to new heights."

— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) September 27, 2020

Malone also reminded his spirited Denver Nuggets side that every champion has to go through the pain of defeat before tasting success.

Michael Malone said his message to the Nuggets after the WCF loss: “Remember this feeling. I think all great teams and champions have to go through the pains of losing... I wouldn’t want to be with any other group.”

— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) September 27, 2020

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NBA News Update: Jamal Murray reveals the injury that restricted him from playing at his usual level

NBA News Update: Jamal Murray revealed that an injury stopped him from performing at his usual best against the LA Lakers

Jamal Murray has often carried the Denver Nuggets on his back in the absence of Nikola Jokic. Foul trouble meant that the Serbian center could only appear on the court for around 30 minutes and even when he did, he was always playing with the possibility of getting fouled out in his mind.

The Denver Nuggets needed Jamal Murray to step up once again as he had done on several occasions earlier in this post-season. However, he failed to do so as he scored the ball inefficiently, dropping only 19 points with as many as 5 turnovers. He revealed in his post-game conference that an injury was to be blamed for the same.

Jamal Murray: "I had a big bruise on my foot ... That's why I changed shoes."

— Mike Singer (@msinger) September 27, 2020

Jamal Murray missed all of his efforts from 3-point range and made only 7 field goals on the night. However, he can be extremely proud of his overall run in the NBA playoffs as he proved to the world that he is ready to become a superstar very soon.

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