Jamal Murray tosses heat pack, Michael Malone screams at officials as Nuggets frustrated in Game 2
Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone directs his team in the first half of Game 1 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
DENVER (AP) — Nuggets guard Jamal Murray lost his cool on the bench and tossed a heat pack onto the court.
Denver’s frustration was on full display in the first half of Game 2 on Monday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Wolves applied the pressure and the defending champion Nuggets lost their temper, trailing by as many as 28 points in the second quarter.
Sitting on the bench, Murray was seen on video tossing a heat pack toward the court after layup by Karl-Anthony Towns. There wasn’t a call on Murray, but a warning from the public address announcer to the crowd not to throw objects onto the floor.
Denver Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon, second from left, drives past Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, left, in the first half of Game 2 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series Monday, May 6, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
The Timberwolves issued a warning of their own: They’re a force to be reckoned with as they try to take a 2-0 lead in the second-round series. This after sweeping Phoenix in the first round. Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves flustered Murray and the Nuggets at every turn.
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker, right, steals the ball from Denver Nuggets forward Justin Holiday, left, who was driving to the basket past Timberwolves center Naz Reid, second from left, in the first half of Game 2 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series Monday, May 6, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Denver’s opening half was filled with missed shots and aggravation. Nuggets coach Michael Malone was so irate at a no-call after Towns bulldozed through Murray for a layup that he ran onto the court and began yelling at referee Marc Davis. That sort of demonstration in the regular season would’ve drawn Malone at least one technical and possibly an ejection. But there was no whistle.
The officials let both sides play and the physical Wolves took advantage. In the second quarter, they held the Nuggets to six field goals and six turnovers, and Denver was lobbying for calls on nearly every trip down the floor.
Denver Nuggets guard Reggie Jackson, center, drives to the basket between Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kyle Anderson, left, and guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker, right, in the first half of Game 2 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series Monday, May 6, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Minnesota came at the Nuggets in waves and didn’t give them a moment of peace. The Timberwolves were missing center Rudy Gobert, who was back in Minneapolis, where his fiancee gave birth to the couple’s child early Monday.
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, left, drives to the basket as Minnesota Timberwolves center Naz Reid, rright, defends in the first half of Game 2 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series Monday, May 6, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
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