Starting point guard Jamal Murray heard boos every time he touched the ball early in the Denver Nuggets’ game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center Friday night. The Nuggets ended up eliminating the Timberwolves 117-90 and now lead Minnesota in the series 2 games to 1.
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The crowd in Minneapolis loudly showed their disgust with Murray’s action that led to a fine during the two teams’ previous meeting in the Western Conference semifinals.
“Jamal Murray, public enemy No. 1 tonight here in Minneapolis,” ESPN anchor Mark Jones said during the telecast. “We all know why.”
Jones was referring to the moment in Game 2 when Murray’s apparent frustration with the officiating boiled over and he threw a heat pack onto the field. No one was injured in Monday’s game and Murray was not cautioned for a technical foul because it was not immediately clear who threw the object. Only later did the NBA issue a $100,000 fine.
Murray I wasn’t willing to say much about the fine. when reporters asked him questions after practice this week. He said, “That’s the way it is and I take full responsibility for it,” and not much more when pressed on the issue.
The fans made it clear to Murray in the third game that he was playing in a hostile environment, and they were not happy with his decision to interfere with the match from the sidelines.
