Jamal Murray fined $100,000 for throwing heat pack on court during live action

What Jamal Murray did in the second quarter of the Nuggets blowout Game 2 loss was, to use the words of Timberwolves coach Chris Finch, dangerous and inexcusable. The only question was whether the league would hit Murray with a stiff fine or suspend him for a must-win Game 3 for the Nuggets on Friday.

The answer is a $100,000 fine "or throwing multiple objects in the direction of a game official during live play," the league announced Tuesday.

The incident came in the second quarter when Murray threw the pack on the court under the basket near live play (look at this video, just above the State Farm logo). Previously, he had thrown a towel toward the court but it did not make it into play.

Murray did not speak to reporters after Game 2 and has not commented on his actions.

The fine was always the most likely outcome — despite the danger of what Murray did — because, as referee crew chief Marc Davis said after the game, this would have warranted a technical but not an ejection.

"I was the lead official and I didn't notice it was on the floor or where it came from until [Karl-Anthony] Towns scored..." Davis said to a pool reporter. "We weren't aware it had come from the bench. 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."

Denver will have Murray for Game 3, but he will have to play much better than his 3-of-18 shooting outing in Game 2. Murray is slowed by a calf injury he is playing through, and that, combined with the intense, athletic defense played by the Timberwolves this series, has seen Murray struggle. If he continues to play like that, the defending champions will be on vacation much earlier than expected.