LeBron James asked coach Vogel to guard Jamal Murray in “winning time”

LeBron James asked coach Vogel to guard Jamal Murray in the final minutes of Western Conference Finals Game 4 to avoid a Denver Nuggets’ comeback.

Per ESPN, “LeBron asked for the assignment, and obviously I granted it,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said after his team’s 114-108 win drew them to within one victory of the NBA finals.
He was the only Laker to guard Murray in clutch time — defined as the last five minutes of a game when the point differential is five or fewer — and held him to 0-for-2 shooting.

Murray had four points in the final five minutes but those came at the free throw line.

“I knew it was winning time, and Jamal had it going,” James said of his decision to guard him.

“The kid is special,” James said. “He has an array of shots. Triple threat from the 3, midrange and also in the paint. For me, it’s just trusting my defensive keys. Trusting my study of film. Trusting personnel. And living with the results.

“I told my teammates that I had him and everyone else can kind of stay at bay and stay home. I was able to get a couple stops and we were able to rebound the basketball, which is the most important thing.”