NBA star Jamal Murray fined for throwing towel and heat pack at referee

Murray’s actions were described as ‘inexcusable and dangerous’ but the Denver Nuggets guard avoided a suspension

Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray has been fined (Getty Images)

Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray has been fined $100,000 (£80,000) by the NBA but avoided a suspension for “throwing multiple objects in the direction of a game official during live play,” the league announced on Tuesday.

Murray tossed a towel and a heat pack onto the court late in the second quarter of Denver’s 108-80 loss to Minnesota that gave the Timberwolves a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference semi-final 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 Denver’s bench and throwing it onto the court. It slid across the floor as players jockeyed in the lane just before Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns made a layup with 4:41 left in the second quarter.

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.

Jamal Murray was frustrated by the officiating in the Nuggets’ defeat (Getty Images)

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, “we could have reviewed it under the hostile act trigger. The penalty would have been a technical foul.”

“We tried to impress upon (the officials) that there’s probably not many fans in the building that have a heat pack. So, it probably had to come from the bench,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said after the game.

Finch also said Murray‘s actions were “inexcusable and dangerous.”

Murray left the arena without speaking to reporters and Nuggets coach Michael Malone demurred when asked about it after the game, saying he wasn’t aware that his point guard had been the culprit.

The Timberwolves have suffocated the Nuggets in the first two games of the series (Getty Images)

Several seconds before he threw the heat pack onto the court, Murray was observed tossing a towel in Davis’ direction. The towel landed at Davis’ 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 Timberwolves’ 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 he’s done that in either half of 59 career playoff games.

AP