Jamal Murray spun through the air like a ballerina, pirouetting around two Utah Jazz defenders.
He rose up from the top of the key, 26 feet away from the hoop after evading Donovan Mitchell.
He leaned away from the basket and fired, releasing the ball just in time to beat the shot clock buzzer after grabbing an offensive rebound.
Like an expert archer, the 23-year-old Canadian's shot found its mark every time.
Murray filled up the basket from every spot on the floor en route to 42 points and a 117-107 victory in Tuesday's Game 5 of his Denver Nuggets' first-round series against Utah, avenging a loss in Game 4 on Sunday in which the Kentucky product scored 50 points.
At one point in the fourth quarter, Murray embarked on a personal 9-0 run, turning a tied game into one Denver would win going away. The rising sharpshooter scored 33 points in the second half alone, willing the Nuggets to a Game 6 on Thursday and outdueling Mitchell, his counterpart in the series, who finished with 30 on the night.
The Murray-Mitchell dynamic has been the story of the Denver-Utah series, as the 23-year-olds have shown off an expanded arsenal since arriving in Orlando following the NBA's nearly five-month-long hiatus. Murray has shown a particularly impressive improvement, averaging more than 30 points per game for the series, an increase of nearly 12 points over his season average.
Tuesday's win ensured at least one more game in Denver's season, as Murray and the Nuggets will look to extend the series again on Thursday night to a decisive seventh game on Saturday. Murray's explosion against the Jazz has come at a timely moment for Denver, who is missing extra depth after losing Will Barton and Gary Harris to knee and hip injuries, respectively. His 92 points in the last two games have been complemented with zero turnovers, an accurate depiction of the narrow margin for error the Nuggets are facing.
"The young man is growing up and turning into a superstar on the biggest stage," Nuggets head coach Michael Malone said of Murray. "I couldn't be more proud of him."
Leading up to the NBA halting its season in March, Denver raced out to a 43-22 record, thanks in large part to its depth and its identity as one of the most disciplined, team-oriented squads in the league. In order to save its season over the next few nights, it will need to rely on a thinner, less versatile crew.
It might also need a greater heaping of buckets from its budding superstar sniper, too. Jamal Murray will happily oblige.
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