Lakers Injury Report: Further Details On Jamal Murray's Illness

Doesn't sound pleasant.

Star Denver Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray had been considered questionable to even play, due to an undisclosed illness, for his club's 132-126 Game 1 win Tuesday over your Los Angeles Lakers, so the fact that he chipped in 31 points on 12-of-20 shooting from the floor (4-of-8 from three-point land), five assists, five rebounds, and three steals.

Now, Mike Singer of The Denver Post has shed some light on the ailment. Murray incurred an ear infection on Saturday, which was pestering him at least through Tuesday's game. Head coach Michael Malone let Murray skip a practice and avoid exerting himself ahead of Game 1.

“I sometimes marvel at the kid,” Malone raved. “He showed up and performed like he always does.”

The ailment didn't seem to bug Murray much throughout the night as a scorer or passer. His defense was so rough that LeBron James frequently targeted him for exploitation on pick-and-rolls, but that's kind of par for the course when it comes to Murray's game (that's probably a big reason Denver added Bruce Brown as a free agent last summer), and shouldn't be chalked up to Murray's ear problems.

The Nuggets have yet to issue an official injury report with further clarification on Murray's availability today. If I had to venture a guess, I'd speculate that he will play tonight for Game 2, though one wonders if he can have quite the same impact he did on Tuesday if the infection is lingering.

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