It’s easy to overlook or even forget the Denver Nuggets these days. 

The 2023 NBA Champions fell in the second round during their title defense last year and have flown under the radar so far this season following an underwhelming 11-10 start to the campaign.

However, the Nuggets have slowly climbed up the West standings, winning 25 of 34 games since, and are beginning to look like legitimate contenders once again. For almost a decade now, Nikola Jokić has been the focal point of this Denver team, and he finds himself in the thick of the NBA MVP race for the nth time. 

Jokic, despite his all-world talents, cannot do it alone and, as proven during last year’s postseason, this team needs Jamal Murray at his best if they fancy themselves as championship aspirants.

Murray has all the skills necessary to be one of the best guards in the league, but he struggles with consistency, especially during the regular season–a major reason why he has yet to make an NBA All-Star team. This makes Murray’s otherworldly hot streaks even more tantalizing as it leaves everyone wondering why he can’t do these things on a regular basis. 

The 27-year-old guard is up to his old tricks once more this month of February–his best so far this season. He is averaging 25.3 points, on 54.1% field goal shooting and 6.2 assists in six games this month, highlighted by a dazzling performance against the Portland Trail Blazers where he set a new career-high with 55 points. 

By halftime, Murray had already scored 30 of his 55 points, including six of his seven three-pointers. He wound up playing 42 minutes during the contest and made 20-of-36 field goals overall while also tallying four rebounds, five assists, and two steals. 

It’s no surprise that Murray’s best stretch of the year so far has coincided with that of the Nuggets who are currently on a season-high eight-game winning streak that has pushed them up to third place in the Western Conference with a 36-19 win-loss record heading into the All-Star break.

When paired with Jokic’s ever-present brilliance, an in-form Murray is one of the scariest sights in the league. With the season now heading into its homestretch, it is essential to Denver’s championship hopes that Murray continues playing at this level. If Murray can keep this up, a second championship in three seasons becomes a legitimate possibility for these Nuggets as he and Jokic literally have enough firepower to win it all, regardless of who the other three players that they are sharing the court with are.