Jamal Murray got upset on the bench and threw a heat pack onto the court. The Denver Nuggets were really frustrated.
They were annoyed by the refs not calling fouls and angry about calls they thought were wrong. This led to the Nuggets losing badly, 106-80, against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals on Monday night.
The Wolves played tough defense, and the Nuggets couldn’t keep up. By halftime, they were already down by 32 points.
Now, the Nuggets are behind 2-0 as they head to Minnesota for the next game. They’re trying to find their groove like they had last year when they won the championship. But it’s been tough against a determined Minnesota team playing great defense.
“Nights like this are hard,” said Nuggets coach Michael Malone. “You feel embarrassed. You feel like you didn’t do your job. So, what are you going to do? … You need to be brave enough to admit when you didn’t perform well and then do better next time.”
During the second quarter, Murray threw the heat pack onto the court after Karl-Anthony Towns made a layup. Murray didn’t get in trouble for it, but there was a warning to the crowd not to throw things onto the court.
According to official Marc Davis in a pool report, the crew didn’t realize the object came from the bench. If they had known, “we could have reviewed it under the hostile act trigger. The penalty would have been a technical foul,” he said.
Murray might face a fine. He didn’t talk to reporters after the game. The incident didn’t sit well with Timberwolves coach Chris Finch.
“We tried to explain to them that probably not many fans in the building have a heat pack,” said Finch, whose team has won six playoff games in a row, including sweeping Phoenix in the first round.
“So, it probably had to come from the bench, which they found logical. But yeah, it’s inexcusable and dangerous, and I’m sure it was just a mistake and an oversight. I’m sure there was nothing intentional about the officiating at all. But certainly can’t allow it to happen.”
Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves made Denver shoot just 34.9% and commit numerous turnovers. Murray only made 3 of his 18 shots.
