Murray has career game in loss
In today’s social media-dominated digital age, the most convenient way for NBA fans to cast All-star votes is via Twitter.
This puts Spurs forward Keldon Johnson at a disadvantage when it comes to submitting his potential ballot.
“I don’t have Twitter,” Johnson said. Even so, Johnson has an inkling whose name would be atop his hypothetical ticket.
“If I could vote, that’s my vote: Dejounte Murray,” Johnson said.
Murray added another line item to his résumé Wednesday against Houston, putting up a career-best 32 points to go along with 11 assists and 10 rebounds for his seventh triple-double of the season.
That it came in a 108-104 loss to the worst team in the Western Conference underscores why the Spurs’ 25-year-old point guard faces an uphill battle when it comes to representing the Spurs next month in Cleveland.
Still, there is little doubt Murray has continued to stuff stat sheets like few Spurs players in memory.
“He’s been playing his ass off all year,” guard Bryn Forbes said. “He’s really found himself in this league, and he’s killing it.”
Before Wednesday, only two players in Spurs history had recorded a triple-double that included at least 30 points. One was David Robinson, who did it four times. The other was Alvin Robertson.
Murray joined that list thanks in part to a 19-point fourth quarter that kept the Spurs in the game against the Rockets late.
“Dejounte was amazing,” coach Gregg Popovich said.
Adding to Murray’s astonishing game, he committed zero turnovers.
The only other player in NBA history to post the counting statistics Murray did in a turnover-less game was Denver’s Nikola Jokic in 2018.
The Los Angeles Lakers’ Russell Westbrook leads the NBA with 11 triple-doubles this season.
Murray is tied with Jokic and Brooklyn’s James Harden for second.
Now with 11 career triple-doubles, Murray continues to close on Robinson’s franchise mark of 14.
If the Spurs don’t improve on their record — they are 11 games below .500 entering Friday’s game against Cleveland — Murray likely will be shut out of an All-star bid.
That won’t stop his teammates from stumping for him.
“He’s playing amazing, doing amazing things for us,” Johnson said. “Anything you can ask, he’s doing it for us. I think Dejounte Murray is definitely an All-star.”