In the second game of the Eastern Conference semifinals, Denver Nuggets player Jamal Murray threw a hot pack and towel from the bench during his team’s 106-80 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Murray will get a $100,000 fine (but not a suspension).
Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic broke the initial story regarding Murray, pointing out that the player avoided suspension.
Cameras saw Murray, who was on the bench, hurling a towel at crew chief Marc Davis’ heels as he called live action with roughly five minutes remaining in the second quarter. Davis quickly recovered the towel so he would not trip over it.
A few players later, cameras filmed the guard throwing a hot pack onto the court, with the activity at the basket closest to him:
Murray did not receive a foul for either action, which was due to Davis’s attention to the game on the court.
“I was the lead official, and I didn’t notice it was on the floor or where it came from until [Karl-Anthony] Towns scored,” Davis stated in the pool report on the heat pack. “We were unaware it had originated from the bench. If we had known it came from the bench, we could have examined it using the hostile act trigger. “The penalty would have been a technical foul.”
Murray has struggled in this series, averaging only 12.5 points through two games. He departed without speaking with reporters.
Denver is currently down 2-0 in the best-of-seven series, which moves to Minneapolis for Games 3 and 4. Game 3 will take place on Friday at 9:30 p.m. ET.