Jamal Murray throws heat pack and insults refs with money gesture in Wolves’ Game 2 win

The Timberwolves are dominating the Western Conference’s semifinals and this is definitely getting under the Nuggets players’ skins, as both Jamal Murray and coach Michael Malone threw fits in their Game 2 loss on Monday. In the guard’s case, he should’ve been called for a technical foul, although not ejected, after he insulted the officials. 

The Denver star was on the bench while Minnesota was leading with 4:41 remaining in the second quarter, as rival Karl-Anthony Towns recieved a pass from Kyle Andersonto. This was the moment when Jamal tossed the pad on the floor while the match was still in action.

His teammate Kentavious Caldwell-Pope then picked up the pad and threw it back to the sidelines so that the play would continue without any whistle blown.

Tim Legler throws shade at Jamal Murray

"He was 3-for-18. I'm not shocked he missed Marc Davis with that heat pack." 😅

(h/t @awfulannouncing )

pic.twitter.com/P2XDAW534P

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) May 7, 2024

“I was the lead official, and I didn’t notice it was on the floor or where it came from until Towns scored,” said crew chief Marc Davis. “We weren’t aware it had come from the bench. If we would have been aware it came from the bench, we could have reviewed it under the hostile act trigger. The penalty would have been a technical foul.”

The Wolves now lead 2-0 as the contest finally ended 106 to 80, which means this is the first time the reigning champions are trailing in a playoffs series since last year’s championship run.

Minnesota coach Chris Finch was in disbelief with the 27-year-old’s actions, calling them “inexcusable” and “dangerous”, as his team tried to reason with the referees about dealing with the incident.

“We tried to impress upon [the referees] there probably aren’t many fans in the building that have a heat pack, so it probably had to come from the bench, which they found logical,” the tactician said. “I’m sure it was a mistake and an oversight and nothing intentional by the officiating at all, but certainly can’t allow that to happen.”

According to the crew chief, there’s a reason why Murray wasn’t ejected. “For an ejection, you would have to determine it was thrown directly at somebody versus thrown in frustration,” Davis explained.

Coach Malone lost his temper throughout the game and said he wasn’t aware of Murray’s actions

It seems like the entire Nuggets team has grown accustomed to winning and aren’t dealing well with defeat. Jamal, for example, exited the game without speaking to anyone, while his coach Michael Malone was seen losing his temper with the officials throughout the contest.

“I am not even aware of that,” the tactician said about his guard’s actions. “I really can’t comment. But if that’s the case, we will have to see what happens. I wasn’t aware of that. I knew a heating pack was on the floor, but it was not in my field of vision.”

At one point in the first quarter, Malone confronted Davis by leaving the bench to go and deliver an earful for the crew chief. This play occurred after an offensive foul wasn’t called on Karl-Anthony after colliding with Murray.

“When [Murray] is out there battling a guy like Karl-Anthony Towns and trying to take charge in what I thought was an easy call and he is not rewarded, I owe it to Jamal Murray or anybody else in that situation to voice my opinion, to voice my concern or disagreement,” he expressed. “That wound up being a big play because things after that did not go our way. Which is unfortunate, but that is my job. I am going to fight for my guys. I think I have to fight even more for them.”