Jamal Murray scored a career-high 48 points in his team’s win over the Boston Celtics on Monday night, and Kyrie Irving was not happy with the way the Denver Nuggets star tried to make it 51.
With the final seconds of the game ticking away and the Nuggets leading 115-107, Murray looked like he was content to dribble out the clock but then launched a 3-point attempt at the buzzer. The Celtics were not happy about him chasing the 50-point mark, and Irving expressed his discontent by throwing the ball into the stands as he walked off the court.
Kyrie threw the ball into the crowd after Jamal Murray's attempt to make 50-points as the game ended pic.twitter.com/Vbx3oNxmaf
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) November 6, 2018
When asked after the game about Murray’s 3-point attempt, Irving admitted it got under his skin.
Kyrie Irving wasn't happy about Jamal Murray shooting a 3-pointer with one second left to go for 50 with the game decided. #Celtics #Nuggets pic.twitter.com/0y6MKV11Wt
— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) November 6, 2018
“What kind of competitor wouldn’t it bother?” he said. “I understand if we fouled him and he was going to the free throw line … I don’t want to make a big deal out of it. Obviously I was pissed off at the game, but it’s time to decompress and move on.”
Irving congratulated Murray on his 48-point effort and said the Celtics need to do a better job defensively, but he also said he did not regret throwing the ball into the stands.
“The ball deserves to go in the crowd after a bulls— move like that, so I threw it in the crowd,” Irving said.
Murray obviously wanted to add a 50-point game to his NBA resume, but he said he meant no disrespect to the Celtics with the way he went about trying to accomplish the feat.
Jamal Murray says he meant no disrespect with 3. “I just had it in my mind to score 50.” pic.twitter.com/JpijtUKbp5
— Mike Singer (@msinger) November 6, 2018
Considering he has been criticized for similar antics in the past, it was not a huge surprise that Murray was thinking about his own stat line and not unwritten rules. If faced with a similar situation in the future, there’s no reason to think he would do anything differently.
