Jamal Murray tore his ACL on April 12, 2021. Leading up to that night, he'd been playing at an All-NBA level for two months: In a 25-game stretch, Murray averaged 24.1 points on .509/.459/.935 shooting splits, 4.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists. He was even more efficient than he was in the bubble playoffs, and his defense had improved, too. Murray only got to play with Aaron Gordon, the Denver Nuggets' big trade-deadline addition, for five games. They won them all except the one in which Murray got injured. In 110 minutes, their new starting five scored slightly more efficiently than any iteration of the Kevin Durant-era death lineup in Golden State and defended like a top-five team. Two Nikola Jokic MVP awards later, Murray is back. So is Michael Porter Jr., who signed a five-year extension about a year ago and needed back surgery nine games into the 2020-21 season. The Nuggets remember how easily everything slid into place with Gordon in the mix. Newcomer Kentavious Caldwell-Pop
OG Anunoby injury update: Raptors forward out at least another two weeks with fractured finger, per report
OG Anunoby of the Toronto Raptors will be sidelined for at least the next two weeks, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. Anunoby has missed the Raptors' four games since the All-Star break with a broken right ring finger and saw a specialist on Monday. Anunoby is not expected to need surgery, per ESPN. On Tuesday, Toronto coach Nick Nurse told reporters that it is a "slight fracture" that should heal with rest. "He's been playing with it for quite some time," Nurse said. "We're not even sure how long. It is getting better. The specialist thought it was nearly healed, said it will get better every day. I guess we're just waiting to determine if he's able to play on it. And they said probably within two weeks it will be fully healed, so we're just, I guess, trying to decide what route we're going to take there." In Anunoby's absence, the Raptors have been starting center Khem Birch, but they closed Tuesday's 10