Timberwolves coach has strong reaction to Jamal Murray throwing heat pack

Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch had a strong reaction to the stunt Denver Nuggets star Jamal Murray pulled on Monday night.

The Nuggets melted down in the first half of their eventual loss to the Timberwolves in Game 2 of the second-round playoff series between the two teams. As Minnesota was pulling away in the second quarter, a frustrated Murray threw a heat pack onto the court while he was standing in Denver’s bench area.

The object that Murray threw landed at the feet of players who were in the paint. It actually hit Denver’s Reggie Jackson and then Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns before Nuggets guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope threw it back toward the bench area.

After his team won 106-80 to take a 2-0 series lead, Finch called Murray’s outburst “inexcusable and dangerous.”

“I didn’t actually see it happen. The referees didn’t see it either. They’re not able to issue a technical unless they see it,” Finch said. “We tried to impress upon them that 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. But, yeah, it’s inexcusable and dangerous. … I’m sure there was nothing intentional by the officiating at all, but you certainly can’t allow that to happen.”