Subscribe
Follow Us
A hefty fine will likely be heading the way of Denver Nuggets players Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray after publicly criticizing officials on Sunday. The Nuggets duo did not hide their displeasure in the aftermath of the team's close 113-108 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans.
Both players cited the huge free throw disparity between the two teams, as the visitors went to the line 30 times to the Nuggets 10. The Pelicans made 23 freebies, compared to the Nuggets measly 8-for-10 output from the charity line. A fired-up Murray opened up about the unjust officiating, per Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports.
Jamal Murray unprompted postgame: "Let me just say something. 30 free-throws to our 10….in the last four minutes they shot four minutes of straight free-throws. That is crazy."
— Harrison Wind (@HarrisonWind) March 21, 2021
The 24-year-old Canadian scorer also lamented how a post player like Jokic, who was on the floor for 48 minutes, did not even have a single free throw attempt to his name.
Jamal Murray on Nikola Jokic's zero free-throw attempts: "You're going to tell me that Joker plays a 48 minute game and doesn't get to the line once?"
"I'm telling you that’s ridiculous. Just one of those nights I guess. We'll figure it out. Just got to be better."
— Harrison Wind (@HarrisonWind) March 21, 2021
Jokic, meanwhile, who usually remains mum about these things post-match, also couldn't help but question how come his team did not get the same calls from the referees. The Joker pointed out that the free-throw disparity played a huge factor, especially in such a closely-contested game.
Nikola Jokic while glancing at the box score in between postgame questions: "They had 30 free-throws? That's why we lose the game."
— Harrison Wind (@HarrisonWind) March 21, 2021
Despite not going to the line once, the Serbian still finished with a triple-double of 29 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists on 13-for-19 shooting from the field, and 3-of-4 from long-range for the Nuggets. Murray also did everything he could by pitching in 23 points, seven dimes, and three boards, while shooting 9-of-16 from the field including three made triples in 23 minutes.
However, they had no answer for the Pelicans' two-headed monster of Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson, who each recorded 30 points. The two All-Stars got the calls they wanted all game and had their fair share of trips to the line.
