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Jamal Murray lost his cool on the bench and tossed a heat pack onto the court.
It was the Denver Nuggets’ frustration boiling over.
Irritated by no-calls and irate over missed calls, the Nuggets melted down in a 106-80 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 2 of the NBA Western Conference semifinals Monday night.
The Timberwolves turned up the pressure and the defending NBA champions lost their temper, trailing by 32 points in a game that got out of hand before halftime.
Denver trails the Timberwolves 2-0 as their second-round playoff series shifts to Minnesota. The Nuggets are searching for the rhythm that allowed them to go 16-4 in the postseason during last year’s title run. They’ve struggled against a hungry Minnesota squad playing relentless defense.
“A loss like this is tough,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “You feel embarrassed. You feel exposed. So what are you going to do about it? … Have the courage to look yourself in the mirror and say, ‘I did not do my job tonight,’ and be better next game.”
Sitting on the bench in the second quarter, Murray tossed a heat pack toward the court after a 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.
