Jamal Murray avoided suspension but facing the tenacious Timberwolves defense is still punishing

Jamal Murray can't escape the Timberwolves if he tried.

It’s impossible to know where Jamal Murray’s head is at this moment.

After an abysmal Game 2 in which an injured Murray shot 16 percent from the field and had an emotional outburst toward the referees, a suspension for the Denver Nuggets star seemed likely.

Instead, he has to venture back into the hellscape that enraged him past a boiling point in the first place — the teeth of the incredible Minnesota Timberwolves defense.

On Tuesday night, the NBA revealed that Murray would be fined $100,000 for dangerously throwing various objects in the direction of referee Mark Davis. In all honesty, Murray probably deserved to miss at least a game, but it feels like the NBA punished the process more than the result (no one got hurt).

Given the way Murray has fared against the Timberwolves so far, his playing in Game 3 on Friday night in Minneapolis is probably still plenty punishment enough:

The following was released by the NBA: pic.twitter.com/MlbHrJ3qtQ

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 7, 2024

Through two games against Minnesota, Murray is shooting just 9-of-34 from the field. He has only six assists and has turned the ball over five times. Some of those atrocious numbers are somewhat misleading because Murray has had trouble initiating the Denver offense against Minnesota’s relentless on-ball pressure. (Paging Nikola Jokic!).

If Murray had the opportunity to actually get more free and more shots up, the sample size suggests he wouldn’t be playing all that much better anyway.

Murray does deserve credit for trying to play through a calf strain when his team needs him. His heroic 32-point performance against the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 5 of the first round came after Nuggets team doctors advised him not to play. But it’s becoming apparent that a combination of that injury, which is potentially worsening, and the Timberwolves’ elite defense has Murray incensed and frustrated over his poor play.

If Murray had been suspended for Game 3, he would’ve had two more days to rest his calf, with the possibility of looking a lot crisper in Sunday’s Game 4. It could’ve been a small blessing for Murray even if Denver fell into a disastrous 3-0 series hole. Instead, with the reigning champions’ season likely teetering in the balance, a less-than-100-percent Murray has to once again venture into the belly of the beast against a shark-like Minnesota team that knows he’s hurt and smells blood in the water.

The NBA definitely didn’t intend it this way, but it’s hard not to read that as a punishment in itself.