Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray was fined $100,000 US by the NBA however averted a suspension for “throwing a number of objects within the path of a recreation official throughout dwell play,” the league introduced Tuesday.
Murray of Kitchener, Ont., tossed a towel and a warmth pack onto the courtroom late within the second quarter of Denver’s 108-80 loss to Minnesota that gave the Timberwolves a 2-0 lead within the Western Convention semifinal sequence that shifts to Minneapolis this weekend.
The Nuggets had been annoyed by the officiating as they fell behind by 28 factors shortly earlier than halftime.
The warmth pack toss garnered essentially the most consideration as TNT replays confirmed Murray sitting on the finish of Denver’s bench and throwing it onto the courtroom. It slid throughout the ground as gamers jockeyed within the lane simply earlier than Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Cities made a layup with 4:41 left within the second quarter.
Jamal Murray threw a towel onto the courtroom throughout Recreation 2 <a href=”https://t.co/luj2mKryID”>pic.twitter.com/luj2mKryID</a>
—@BleacherReport
Nuggets guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope retrieved the warmth pack and tossed it apart because the public-address announcer admonished the group to not throw any objects onto the courtroom.
Officiating crew chief Marc Davis advised a pool reporter after the sport that the officers had been unaware the item had come from the bench. In any other case, “we might have reviewed it beneath the hostile act set off. The penalty would have been a technical foul.”
“We tried to impress upon [the officials] that there is in all probability not many followers within the constructing which have a warmth pack. So, it in all probability needed to come from the bench,” Wolves coach Chris Finch stated after the sport.
Murray left the sector with out chatting with reporters and Nuggets coach Michael Malone demurred when requested about it after the sport, saying he wasn’t conscious that his level guard had been the offender.
The Nuggets had been off Tuesday. Their subsequent availability is after Wednesday’s observe.
A number of seconds earlier than he threw the warmth pack onto the courtroom, Murray was noticed tossing a towel in Davis’ path. The towel landed at Davis’ heels and someone sitting on the sideline received up and rapidly eliminated the towel. Davis by no means seen.
Murray, bothered by a strained left calf and the Timberwolves’ tenacious protection, shot three of 18 in recreation two, ending with eight factors. That poor efficiency got here on the heels of his scoreless first half in recreation one, which was the primary time he is finished that in both half of 59 profession playoff video games.