Reggie Jackson

It was a miserable night on Monday for Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, who scored just eight points on 3-of-18 shooting, didn’t make a three-pointer, and committed four turnovers as Denver lost a second consecutive game at home to the Timberwolves to fall behind 2-0 in the Western Conference semifinals. At one point in the second quarter, a frustrated Murray was captured on camera throwing a heat pack onto the floor from the bench during a live play (Twitter video link).

The incident, which Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch referred to after the game as “dangerous” and “inexcusable,” wasn’t caught in the moment by game officials, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. In a pool report interview after the game, referee crew chief Marc Davis said Murray would have been assessed with a technical foul – but not ejected – if the officials had realized he was the one who threw the heat pack.

“We weren’t aware it had come from the bench,” Davis said. “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. … For an ejection, you would have to determine it was thrown directly at somebody versus thrown in frustration.”

“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,” Finch 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.”

Murray – who left the arena without speaking to reporters for a second consecutive game, according to Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (Twitter link) – figures to be disciplined by the NBA for the heat pack toss. A fine is more likely than a suspension unless the league determines that Murray was aiming for Davis. We’ll have to wait to see if the penalty reflects the fact that the Nuggets guard evaded any repercussions during the game.

Here’s more on the reeling defending champs:

• Nuggets head coach Michael Malone was also lucky to avoid a technical foul in the first quarter of Monday’s loss — he came onto the court to angrily confront Davis (Twitter video link) after Karl-Anthony Towns wasn’t called for an offensive foul following a collision with Murray (video link). Davis explained after the game that Malone didn’t “say anything unsportsmanlike” that warranted a technical. “When [Murray] is out there battling a guy like [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,” Malone told reporters, per McMenamin. “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.”
• Backup point guard Reggie Jackson, who has battled ankle issues this year, limped to the locker room with medical staff in the fourth quarter and didn’t return, tweets Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports. Jackson will have three days off before Friday’s Game 3 to rest and recover, but his status for that game isn’t yet known.
• The Nuggets will face long odds as they look to pull off a comeback against the Wolves, according to Vinny Benedetto of The Denver Gazette, who notes that teams facing a 2-0 deficit in an NBA playoff series have a record of 33-421 (27-319 in best-of-seven series). No team has ever come back from a 3-0 hole.
• The way in which the Nuggets have lost the first two games of the Western semifinals has been especially “disturbing,” says Troy Renck of The Denver Post, writing that the team hasn’t matched Minnesota’s “intensity or physicality.”