The Denver star will be available for Game 3 of the Nuggets’ second-round playoff series against the Timberwolves.

On Tuesday, the NBA levied a $100,000 fine against Jamal Murray, the guard for the Denver Nuggets, for tossing a heat pack and a towel from the bench onto the court during the second quarter of their Game 2 matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves. This incident occurred during the Nuggets’ 106-80 loss in the second-round playoff series on Monday.

Murray, aged 27, is expected to participate in Game 3 on Friday at Target Center in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves currently lead the series 2-0 and have the opportunity to eliminate the defending champions from the playoffs with victories at home on Friday and Sunday.

During Game 2, midway through the second quarter, Murray, seated near the end of the Nuggets’ bench, displayed signs of frustration over some uncalled plays. He then raised a heat pack above his head and hurled it past referee Marc Davis, toward the court, during a Minnesota offensive possession. Following a layup by Minnesota center Karl-Anthony Towns, Denver guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope retrieved the heat pack and discarded it from the court.

The visible expression of frustration went unnoticed by the referees but was later reviewed by the league office.

In a postgame statement to a pool reporter, Davis acknowledged that the referees did not witness the heat pack being thrown from the Nuggets’ bench, and suggested that Murray could have potentially received a technical foul for the action.

“We tried to impress upon [the referees] that there probably aren’t many fans in the building that have a heat pack,” Timberwolves Coach Chris Finch said. “So it probably had to come from the bench, which they found logical. It’s inexcusable and dangerous. I’m sure it was just a mistake and an oversight. I’m sure there was nothing intentional by the officiating at all, but we certainly can’t allow that to happen.”

Murray, a scoring guard who was sensational during the Nuggets’ 2023 championship run, has struggled for much of this year’s title defense. 

Though he hit a pair of game-winning jumpers in a first-round series victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, he is averaging 20.4 points and shooting just 37.5 percent from the field and 28.6 percent on three-pointers through seven playoff games. Against Minnesota’s long and aggressive perimeter defenders, Murray is averaging 12.5 points and shooting 28.1 percent through two games.