Inside The Huskies

Dejounte Murray Needs to Turn Big Numbers into Spurs Victories

Two high-performance outings by the playmaker end in tough defeats.

Dan Raley

Dejounte Murray Needs to Turn Big Numbers into Spurs Victories
Dejounte Murray Needs to Turn Big Numbers into Spurs Victories /

Dejounte Murray took his backcourt game up another notch this week across the NBA. Unfortunately, the well-rounded point guard wasn't able to put the San Antonio Spurs on his back and share in this ascent.

The former University of Washington playmaker began the week on Tuesday night with his fifth career triple-double, a 21-point, 15-assist and 12-rebound splurge against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center.

On Thursday night, Murray came back with a scintillating 23-point, 10-rebound, 8-assist showing against the Mavericks in Dallas.

The Spurs lost both games.

It's something San Antonio will have to work on moving forward. They've got their floor leader playing at a very high level. They've just got to translate his performance into victories.

“The stats are the stats,” Murray said. “It doesn’t matter to me because we didn’t win.”

The Spurs guard simply will need to keep elevating his play.

In Los Angeles, even with all of the big numbers, the 6-foot-4 guard from Seattle missed a shot in the closing seconds that would have pulled out a game that the Lakers captured 125-121 in overtime.

Back in Texas two nights later, Murray kept his team in it before the host Mavericks pulled away for a 104-99 victory.

Dejounte Murray has become one of the NBA's top point guards.
Dejounte Murray is a highly effective playmaker.  :: Ron Chenoy/USA TODAY Sports

While it's a definitive rebounding year for the Spurs, the man with the ball continuously in his hands is becoming more of a finished product. Patience will be required as the team, as a whole, matches his efforts.

“Keeping taking those strides,” Murray said. “A lot of people want overnight success. That’s not going to cut it. If we continue to just grind, only time will tell the results.”

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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