Jamal Murray’s season-high scoring night came on the heels of Michael Malone almost shutting him down at halftime in Denver’s previous game on Sunday.

Jamal Murray, who signed a four-year, $208 million contract extension last year, produced his best offensive performance of the season Tuesday, scoring a season-high 45 points in leading the Denver Nuggets to a 118-99 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

After the Nuggets’ win, in an interview with TNT’s Jared Greenberg, Murray claimed he hadn’t heard what O’Neal said. Honestly, given that Murray was likely warming up on the court in Dallas as TNT’s pregame show went on, it’s not all that farfetched to believe him.