Timberwolves fans shower Jamal Murray with boos every time he touches the ball early in Game 3 matchup with Denver Nuggets
Starting point guard Jamal Murray heard boos every time he touched the ball in the early going of the Denver Nuggets game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Target Center on Friday night. The Nuggets wound up blowing out the Timberwolves 117-90 and now trail Minnesota in the series 2 games to 1.
The crowd in Minneapolis was loud in showing their dislike of Murray's action that led to a fine in the previous meeting between the two teams in the Western Conference Semifinals.
"Jamal Murray, public enemy no. 1 tonight here in Minneapolis," ESPN announcer Mark Jones said during the television broadcast. "We all know why."
Jones was referring to the moment during Game 2 when Murray's apparent frustration with the officiating boiled over and he threw a heat pack onto the court. No one was hurt in that Monday matchup and Murray wasn't called for a technical foul because it wasn't immediately clear who threw the item. Only later did the NBA hand down the $100,000 fine.
Murray wasn't willing to say much about the fine when reporters asked him about it after practice this week. He said "It is what it is and I take full responsibility" and not much more than that when pressed on the issue.
Fans were making it clear to Murray in Game 3 that he was playing in a hostile environment, and they weren't happy with his decision to interfere with the game from the sidelines.
