Denver Nuggets star Jamal Murray is clearly ready to put the heat bag incident behind him.
Murray took “full responsibility” for throwing a heat pack and towel onto the court in the middle of his team’s Game 2 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday, earning him a $100,000 fine from the court. league. Murray didn’t talk much about it and technically didn’t apologize for his actions, but he made it clear that he’s trying to move on.
“I mean, it is what it is, and I take full responsibility, so let’s move on to the next thing,” Murray said Wednesday. via ESPN. “Yes, let’s move on to the next one. I mean, two days ago, I don’t have much to say about it right now.”
With less than five minutes left in the first half of the Timberwolves’ 106-80 victory over the Nuggets on Monday, Murray threw a cooler bag onto the court from the bench in frustration after a Timberwolves bucket. Minnesota star Karl-Anthony Towns made a layup with the cooler bag on the floor, and Denver’s Kentavious Caldwell-Pope ended up taking the cooler bag off the court before running back to the other end.
The TNT camera shows Nuggets star Jamal Murray tossing a cooler bag from the bench directly into the game action on the court before a T-Wolves bucket. pic.twitter.com/btZp6dbtZR
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Just before the heat pack was thrown, Murray threw a towel toward official Marc Davis near the baseline. The towel landed right behind Davis’ feet, but he didn’t notice.
The league fined Murray $100,000 for “throwing multiple objects in the direction of a game official during live play.” He was not suspended.
“I actually didn’t see it happen,” Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch said after the game. “And the way it was explained to me, the referees didn’t see it either. So they can’t issue a technical unless they see it… It’s unforgivable and dangerous. I’m sure it was just a mistake and an oversight. I’m “I’m sure there was nothing intentional on the referee’s part, but I certainly can’t let that happen.”
Murray did not address the incident until Wednesday. He finished with eight points and was just 3 of 18 from the field in the Game 2 loss, which left the Nuggets with a 0-2 record in the Western Conference semifinal series.
Murray has averaged 21.2 points and 6.5 assists per game this season. The 27-year-old had 17 points and four assists in Denver’s Game 1 loss to Minnesota, and averaged just under 24 points per game in their first-round win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
“I’ve never seen that from Jamal,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. via ESPN. “That was very unusual. So when you put it all in the boiling pot, it’s a lot to deal with. And he didn’t handle it the way he knows he should handle it, and I’m sure he told you that.”
Game 3 of the series is scheduled for Friday in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves have yet to lose in the postseason. They swept the Phoenix Suns in the first round and won all six of their playoff games by double digits.
“We just have to be ready to play and not get frustrated with how the game is going at times and we let that throw us off our game,” Murray said. “So we have to keep our composure and find a way to stay together during the game and figure it out. No matter what the score says, we have to be able to bounce back.”