Karl-Anthony Towns Shrugs off Jamal Murray’s Heat Pad Tantrum to Focus on “Making the Layup”

The Denver Nuggets roster was not successful in keeping their frustrations a secret during their recent semifinal clash. After head coach Michael Malone verbally shouted at an on-court referee, onlookers at the Ball Arena may have thought that things wouldn’t get more interesting than that. However, in the aftermath of that, point guard Jamal Murray proceeded to throw his heat pad onto the court in the middle of the game. While this incident drew criticism from many, people waited to hear from the Timberwolves roster about the same.

During the post-game press conference, lead scorers Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns addressed Jamal Murray’s ‘tantrum’. The duo, along with power forward Kyle Anderson, were attempting to drop a layup when the incident occurred. Fortunately, the distraction was not big enough to draw their attention away from the ball.

“I didn’t even know like it happened until the refs stopped the play and took the heat pad off the floor,” said Edwards. “That’s crazy”. Continuing his teammate’s dialog, Anthony Towns stated “I saw it. I just was more worried about making the layup”.

Both Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns led the Timberwolves’ scoring effort by adding 27 points each to the overall score. The latter made 10-15 field goals, 3-5 three-pointers, and 4-4 free throws. The Nuggets roster, especially Jamal Murray, attempted to reach the same level as their rivals. However, the Timberwolves’ defensive skills kept the team at bay. Murray had trouble circumventing the same, because of which he went 3-18 with his field goals and 0-4 with his three-pointers. With just 8 points, the player ended up scoring in the single digit for the first time in 21 games.

Timberwolves head coach calls Jamal Murray’s ‘Heat Pack’ Incident as “Inexcusable”

Karl-Anthony Towns wasn’t the only individual who was asked to share his thoughts on Jamal Murray throwing the heat pack on the court. Minnesota Timberwolves head coach, Chris Finch, also discussed the incident during his presser. He revealed that everything happened too quickly for him and for the referees to notice. As a result, he couldn’t ask for a technical foul on the action. The referees agreed that the pack could only have been thrown from the bench, but Murray still wasn’t held responsible for his actions. Despite agreeing with their viewpoint, the coach was still upset.

“It’s inexcusable and dangerous,” said Finch about the incident. “I’m sure it was just a mistake and an oversight. I’m sure there was nothing intentional by the officiating at all. But certainly, can’t allow that to happen.”

Jamal Murray refused to engage in any post-game press events. Furthermore, he still hasn’t put out a statement discussing the incident. While he was not penalized for the same during the course of the game, it remains to be seen whether any further action will be taken later.