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NBA fines Jamal Murray $100,000 against Nuggets for throwing heat packs and towels on court against Timberwolves; No lock

Theo

The NBA fined Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray $100,000 for throwing a heat pack and towel onto the court during Monday night’s playoff game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The The NBA announced the fine Tuesday. Murray will not be suspended.

Murray threw a heat pack onto the court with 4:45 left in the first half of Minnesota’s 106-80 win at Denver. TNT video captured the incident as Denver trailed 37-20.

Murray threw the heat pack from the bench onto the field while Minnesota was in an offensive set. Timberwolves forward Karl-Anthony Towns grabbed a rebound and added a layup to extend Minnesota’s lead with the Heatpack on the floor.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope of Denver was on the field on defense. He saw the backpack on the ground, picked it up and threw it to the sideline.

Seconds before throwing the heat pack, Murray also threw a towel toward official Marc Davis. The towel landed behind Davis’ feet as he stood on the baseline, and he didn’t notice.

The officials also missed Murray’s heat pack throw in the moment. He was not disciplined during the game.

In handing out the fine, NBA Vice President Joe Dumars cited Murray for “throwing multiple objects toward a game official during live play.”

Jamal Murray lost $100,000 less after throwing items on the ground during the game on Monday night. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)Jamal Murray lost $100,000 less after throwing items on the ground during the game on Monday night. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Jamal Murray lost $100,000 less after throwing items on the ground during the game on Monday night. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

After the game, Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch called Murray’s behavior “inexcusable and dangerous.” and argued that Murray should have faced discipline in the game.

“I didn’t really see it,” Finch said. “And the way it was explained to me, the referees didn’t see it either. So they can’t make a technical decision unless they see it. We tried to make it clear to them that there probably weren’t many fans in the building that had a heat pack, so it probably had to come from the bench, which they found logical.

“It is inexcusable and dangerous. I’m sure it was just a mistake and an oversight. I’m sure there was no intention of the referee at all. But we definitely can’t allow that to happen.”

Murray left the game without addressing the media and did not comment publicly on the incidents.

He threw the items on the floor in the middle of a difficult stretch for himself and the Nuggets, who are battling the Timberwolves after winning the NBA championship last season. Denver was on its way to a 2-0 series loss at home in the conference semifinals against the Timberwolves when Murray threw the items.

Murray is dealing with a calf injury and had his worst game of the postseason on Monday against an aggressive Timberwolves defense. He finished the game with eight points after shooting 3 of 18 from the floor.

The series now moves to Minnesota, where the Timberwolves have a chance to close out their conference semifinals at home with two more wins.

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