Jamal Murray has continued to set himself apart as not only a dynamic leader of the Denver Nuggets offense, but as one of the premier offensive players in the NBA as a whole. 

He proved that again in the Nuggets' 118-109 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday. Murray scored a game-leading 33 points on 13-24 shooting while also tacking on two rebounds and five assists. 

With Nikola Jokic still out, Murray's presence as both a singular offensive force and a facilitator of the offense is even more critical. While Murray's personal shooting abilities shined through in Wednesday's win, the third-straight win for the Nuggets, but the things he does to help the offense that don't always show up on the stat sheet were just as impressive. 

Murray may have only had five assists on Wednesday, Nuggets head coach David Adelman believes that Murray does more to set up his fellow players to make shots than just what can be measured in numbers at the end of the game. 

"I think he's just so clean with his decision making right now. All of the offense that was created in the first half," Adelman said (via Nuggets). "Unfortunately, he only had three assists and only five for the game. But, the amount of open shots that he created was incredible."

Murray's ability to create shots for his teammates is a direct reflection of how formidable he is as an offensive player. Especially with Jokic injured, Murray demands the attention of the opposing defense and he can use that to draw defenders toward him while his teammates may go overlooked up until the moment that they're sinking a shot of their own. 

Much of that offensive awareness comes from Murray's experience in the league and it's evidence of his own maturity as a guard. 

That maturity and experience is showing up in his own style of play as well. Murray is in his ninth NBA season, all with the Nuggets. His identity as one of the faces of the franchise shows in his leadership and his willingness to rise to the occasion. 

Murray is also hitting his stride as a player. While always an elite talent, Murray is remarkably overlooked compared to other players at his position, stacked with talent as NBA guards are.

He has never been selected as an All-Star or an all-NBA team and the closest thing he's received as an accolade was consideration for the Rookie of the Year award for the 2016-17 season, though he came fifth in the voting. 

Now, Murray is having a career season. He's averaging career-highs in points, rebounds and assists and he's been a bigger part of the Nuggets' success this season now more than ever. 

Considering the way that he's playing, Murray may finally receive the kind of attention from the NBA world that Adelman and his teammates already knows their star guard deserves. 

"He's having a tremendous season and he's doing it in such a leadership way in big moments. He's been a special player forever, just in case anybody didn't realize that, and he still is," Adelman said.