In a Game 2, 106-80 loss Monday night, Jamal Murray threw a towel and then a heating pack onto the court during play. As for the punishment for the crime, there was no suspension given out, but the NBA did hand out a $100,000 fine. As announced by the NBA vice president executive and head of basketball operations, Joe Dumars, the fine was assessed for, "throwing multiple objects in the direction of a game official during live play."
With 4:41 left to go in the second quarter, Murray was on the bench visibly frustrated, so much so that he tried to throw a towel at an official, which fell short. So then the Nuggets' guard proceeded to then try again, this time tossing his heating pad that actually landed next to the players on the court during a play, in which Timberwolves' Karl-Anthony Towns had made a layup to put Minnesota up 49-30; Kentavious Caldwell-Pope then picked it up and tossed it back to the sidelines.
Jamal Murray throws a heat pack pic.twitter.com/JDADMojQgp
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) May 7, 2024
Referee Mark Davis was seen looking at the crowd near the Nuggets' bench trying to assess the situation after it first occurred, but it wasn't until cameras later showed the 'zoomed in' video of it happening in the game, that it was determined Murray was indeed the culprit.
As for the explanation of what the rules state about such an in-game disturbance, Davis told reporters after the game, "For an ejection, you would have to determine it was thrown directly at somebody versus thrown in frustration."
Murray threw his own heating pack, which was presumably being used on his left calf, that he strained at the end of the Game 4 loss in the first-round series vs. the Lakers.
Timberwolves' head coach Chris Finch, who knows that freak injury accidents can happen at any time, as he himself is recovering from surgery on his patellar tendon after a sideline collision during the first-round playoff series vs. Suns, did not hold back when commenting on Murray's act, stating it was "dangerous" and "inexcusable" while doing postgame interviews.
The Timberwolves thought there should have been initial consequences regarding the incident, maybe at least a technical foul. However, it appeared the officiating crew failed to notice that it was surprisingly a player who in fact was responsible for the flying object landing on the court. Because who would expect that, right? The refs probably thought it was a toddler and not a 27-year-old grown adult.
That is to say, seven-year player Murray did in fact have reasons to be upset, as he didn't have much to show for on the court, shooting a mere 3-for-18 from the field and only scoring eight points. On a positive note, Murray somehow did put up a playoff career-high 13 rebounds, in the 26-point loss.
Despite hitting two game-winning shots in the 4-1 first-round series victory over the Lakers, the Nuggets' star is scoring 20.4 points this postseason on 37.5% FG shooting, which are both playoff career-lows. With the Timberwolves now up 2-0 in the series, Game 3 will be played in Minnesota on Friday, May 10 at 9:30 pm ET (ESPN), as the Nuggets and Murray, who is luckily not suspended, will look to bounce back.
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