DENVER โ Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray was fined $100,000 by the NBA but avoided a suspension for โthrowing multiple objects in the direction of a game official during live play,โ the league announced Tuesday.
Murray tossed a towel and a heat pack onto the court late in the second quarter of Denverโs 108-80 loss to Minnesota that gave the Timberwolves a 2-0 lead in the NBA Western Conference semifinal series that shifts to Minneapolis this weekend.
The Nuggets were frustrated by the officiating as they fell behind by 28 points shortly before halftime.
The heat pack toss garnered the most attention as TNT replays showed Murray sitting at the end of Denverโs bench and throwing it onto the court. It slid across the floor as players jockeyed in the lane just before Minnesotaโs Karl-Anthony Towns made a layup with 4:41 left in the second quarter.
READ: NBA: Denver Nuggets frustrated in Game 2 loss to Timberwolves
Nuggets guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope retrieved the heat pack and tossed it aside as the public-address announcer admonished the crowd not to throw any objects onto the court.
Officiating crew chief Marc Davis told a pool reporter after the game that the officials were unaware the object had come from the bench. Otherwise, โwe could have reviewed it under the hostile act trigger. The penalty would have been a technical foul.โ
โWe tried to impress upon (the officials) that thereโs probably not many fans in the building that have a heat pack. So, it probably had to come from the bench,โ Wolves coach Chris Finch said after the game.
Finch also said Murrayโs actions were โinexcusable and dangerous.โ
READ: NBA: Timberwolves blitz Nuggets for 2-0 lead
Murray left the arena without speaking to reporters and Nuggets coach Michael Malone demurred when asked about it after the game, saying he wasnโt aware that his point guard had been the culprit.
The Nuggets were off Tuesday. Their next availability is after Wednesdayโs practice.
Several seconds before he threw the heat pack onto the court, Murray was observed tossing a towel in Davisโ direction. The towel landed at Davisโ heels and somebody sitting on the sideline got up and quickly removed the towel. Davis never noticed.
Murray, bothered by a strained left calf and the Timberwolvesโ tenacious defense, shot 3 of 18 in Game 2, finishing with eight points. That poor performance came on the heels of his scoreless first half in Game 1, which was the first time heโs done that in either half of 59 career NBA playoff games.