WASHINGTON, D.C. – Nuggets coach Michael Malone was frustrated and dumbfounded before he perked up at the sound of cuss words.

On the way back to the halftime locker room Wednesday night, after the Nuggets had sleep-walked through the first two quarters and were actually down two to the hometown Wizards, Malone trailed Jamal Murray in the hallway when he heard some encouraging words.

“We’re (BS-ing) right now,” Malone recounted hearing from his star point guard after the Nuggets bludgeoned Washington in the second half to seize a 118-104 win.

Malone heard his fiery playmaker raise his voice and question the effort and intensity they’d just displayed.

With nine games left in the regular season, the first half was hardly the type of basketball that would engender any optimism heading into the playoffs. And yet, Malone was heartened by the fact that one of his two star players felt compelled to raise their voice and criticize.

“I thought he was a leader tonight,” Malone said. “… We need our guys to speak. It just can’t always be on the old heads.”

Or Malone for that matter. After Murray said his piece, Malone said he shared a few choice words as well.

At the start of the road trip, which began in Toronto with the Nuggets dropping their fourth consecutive game, it was Jeff Green, Ish Smith, DeAndre Jordan and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope who spoke and asked the team, collectively, what they wanted to become of their season.

That Wednesday’s malaise was snapped by Murray was significant.

It was even more significant because Murray rarely raises his voice in a locker room setting.

“Not really,” he told The Denver Post. “Here and there. I like to lead by example.”

But with a chance to end the road trip at 3-2, beating a team Denver should’ve had no trouble dispatching, Murray felt compelled. After 10 days on the road, Murray wasn’t about to fly back to Denver on a losing streak.

“I just tried to keep it organized and make sure everybody knows the task at hand,” Murray said. “We’ve been lazy the past couple of games.”

What his encouragement spurred was a rousing, debilitating quarter that stunned the Wizards. Murray, who finished with 17 points and eight assists, buried a 3-pointer barely 30 seconds into the quarter that only underscored his insistence. Not to be outdone, Nikola Jokic knocked one down from beyond the arc. And then Michael Porter Jr.’s steal jump-started a fast break, finding Caldwell-Pope on an outlet pass for a dunk. Porter followed with three more 3s, and the Nuggets laid it on thick.

What their 39-point quarter featured was outstanding ball movement (12 assists), blistering 3-point shooting (7 for 10) and six forced turnovers that allowed the Nuggets to face a defense in flux. If Malone could bottle up a quarter and save it for the postseason, Wednesday’s third quarter would’ve been it.

Regardless, it will, no doubt, be referenced in numerous clips ahead of Saturday’s showdown against Milwaukee.

Asked what Murray’s comments had meant to the team, the two-time reigning MVP searched for the right words in describing its impact.

“Of course when someone doesn’t speak and then he says something that is important or … true, it helps the team,” Jokic said.

Jokic knew Denver was sleepwalking as well as anyone. To his credit, he’s gotten better at leveraging his voice into impact throughout his eight years in the NBA. But this wasn’t the MVP speaking. It was his sidekick, the player Jokic had been missing for two consecutive postseasons while he rehabbed an injured knee.

Murray’s voice can be every bit as profound as Jokic’s. Now that the playoffs are almost here, it’s a good thing he’s started using it.

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