Taurean Prince was urging Rui Hachimura to help Austin Reaves by doubling up Jamal Murray, but he ignored him.
Denver Nuggets star Jamal Murray broke the hearts of the Los Angeles Lakers and their fans by sinking the game-winner in Game 5 to knock them out of the playoffs. Just before he hit that shot, though, Taurean Prince could be seen urging Rui Hachimura to double Murray, but he decided against it.
I think doubling would have been the right thing to do there. Hachimura was on Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who had gone 2-10 from the field and 1-6 from beyond the arc in the game.
Sure, you ideally don’t want to leave a shooter like him open, but I would much rather have Caldwell-Pope shoot it than Murray, who had it going in that fourth quarter. With that game-winner, the Canadian finished the contest with 32 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists, and 1 steal.
It might seem a bit strange at first, but I think Nuggets head coach Michael Malone deserves a bit of credit for Hachimura not doubling Murray there. After LeBron James had tied the game at 106 with 26.1 seconds remaining, Malone chose not to call timeout despite having two of them.
It meant the Lakers did not get a chance to sit and discuss what they were going to do on this possession. Had they got that opportunity, it is possible that the coaching staff would have instructed that Murray be doubled in a situation like that.
Instead, some of the players had to make that call on the fly and Hachimura decided to stay with Caldwell-Pope. Murray, who had gained some separation from Reaves thanks to that screen from Nikola Jokic, made him pay with his second game-winner of the series.