The Denver Nuggets suffered a tough loss on Sunday against the Utah Jazz in Game 4 of their first-round playoffs matchup. One of the most controversial moments of the evening came in a crucial juncture in the fourth period, during which Rudy Gobert seemed to have gotten away with a clear foul on Nuggets guard Jamal Murray. Both Murray and Nuggets head coach Michael Malone refused to talk about the play in question during their respective post-game interviews, but it was clear that they did not agree with the referees.
For starters, below is a clip of the controversial moment:
Gobert was not whistled for a foul, but based on the angle on the replay, it does appear that he hit Murray's right arm as the Nuggets point guard went for the lay-up.
For his part, Murray did not even want to talk about the incident, sighting how he does not want to get fined by the league:
Asked Jamal Murray about the layup on Gobert and he didn’t want to go there: “I don’t want to get fined.”
— Mike Singer (@msinger) August 24, 2020
Coach Malone echoed Murray's exact thoughts. He too did not want to speak his mind so as to avoid receiving a hefty fine for the NBA for criticizing the game officials.
He specifically brought up Murray’s layup against Gobert and the no-call. https://t.co/es5NwGeWjK
— Mike Singer (@msinger) August 24, 2020
It is also worth noting that the free-throw disparity in the evening is quite alarming. As a team, Denver collectively had just 13 attempts from the charity stripe all game long. On the other hand, Jazz star Donovan Mitchell on his own already went to the line 18 times, missing just one of his attempts from the stripe. All in all, the Jazz went 31-of-36 from the free-throw line.
The Jazz is now up 3-1 in the series, and the Nuggets are on the brink of another disappointing postseason exit. Some poor officiating may have played a factor in the series, but at this point, Denver has only themselves to blame for being in this deep, deep hole.
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