SAN ANTONIO — Jamal Murray was brooding when he walked to the Pepsi Center after rushing a possible game-winning shot in Game 1 of the Nuggets playoff series against San Antonio.

As Murray trudged in from the players’ parking lot, head down, he heard a familiar voice.

“I was just like ‘shake back! ’” Nuggets forward Paul Millsap said. “And he started laughing. ”

Millsap has been the sage voice of the Nuggets, a security blanket because this group traverses the postseason together. Denver, with an average age just shy of 25, is the youngest postseason team in NBA history. And Murray, at 22, is now Millsap’s job.

“He’s to me,” Millsap said. “We talk all of the time. ”

Center Nikola Jokic is the Nuggets’ most indispensable player, but as Murray goes, so goes the offense. The first four matches of Murray’s postseason career have vacillated between astonishing (his 8-for-8 fourth quarter performance of Game two ) and demoralizing (just 6 points in Game 3). But through four matches, Murray is averaging 17 points on 43 percent shooting from the field. It’therefore Millsap’s steady demeanor could be a beacon for Murray to emulate.

Can a booked, 34-year-old four-time All-Star gravitate toward an emotional, occasionally flammable point guard as his pupil?

“I think his admiration for the things and me I’ve desiring that mentorship, wanting to be helpful, wanting to get to that level, & rdquo and accomplished over the years; Millsap said. “That’s the main thing. But our personalities click. ”

Millsap, typically stoic, began to crack.

“I can be childish,” he said.

Asked about a side of Millsap that gets noticed from the media, and Murray starts laughing.

“He’s a clown,” Murray said. “I mean, we’ll throw grapes at each other on the plane. We’ll throw food. Because none of us will stop, it becomes childish. ”

Their bond, built on food fights, video games and work ethic, hasn’t long to Millsap’s love: golf.

“We talk about it,” Millsap saidcoaxing his child. “I think that’s. ”

The Nuggets’ third-year point guard sounds suspicious.

“That’s going to take some time,” Murray said. “Golf isn’t among my things. It is. I can&rsquo. ”

Murray, who’s famously protective of his game but seeks input from those he trusts, has let Millsap in his inner circle. If Murray is forcing shots, Millsap will let him understand.

“The main thing is just playing with the game,” Millsap said. “Not getting focused on what people want him to do but just playing with the game. Seeing him using 19 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds instead of trying each and every night to be going for 50 and focusing on just scoring. He’s really playing with the game now, and I’m super proud of him by how far he’s come. ”

Growing up, Murray&rsquodad, Roger, conditioned his son with rigorous patterns and mental drills that were grueling. To this day, Murray calls him his most demanding coach. Even as trust and his connection with Nuggets coach Michael Malone has blossomed the previous 3 seasons, it’s revealing to hear Murray compare rsquo & his dad;s viewpoint with Millsap’s.

“I play with so much emotion and a lot of fire that (Paul) may see stuff that I don’t see,” Murray said. “Just like my dad always says, rsquo & he;s watching the game, he’s not going to tell me something that’s not going to help me. Same with (Paul).  He’s always telling me from his point of view… rsquo, he &;s the man that’s been to the playoffs and has the experience. Whether it’s time or shot selection, he helps me through that. ”

This isn’t a relationship that is lopsided. Millsap has said numerous times that the Nuggets locker room keeps him young. It’s part of the reason he has said he hopes to finish his career in Denver. Another part is because of the promise he sees in players like Murray. Millsap said Murray’s devotion to the game and his dedication to watching film reminds him in Utah, when he had been building a reputation as a rebounder and a heady defender.

“Coming back in late nights, getting down on yourself after games when you feel like you didn’t do your best or you had more ” Millsap said. “I see the same attitude, the very same similarities. Man s going to be really great, as long as he keeps that attitude. ”

How good? Millsap’s four appearances in the All-Star Game is a fair place to start.

“I’m gonna have more than four,” Murray said. “Hopefully I’ll have more than four. He’s been there and done that. That ’s my next step. That’s my second goal. He’s gonna help me get there. ”

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