Denver Nuggets head coach Mike Malone was unsure if San Antonio Spurs set an illegal screen on point guard Jamal Murray with ill intent. Though one thing is sure — he was not happy about it.
As seen in the video below, after screening for the outlet to Derrick White, Poeltl flips the screen, but leans forward, leaving his knee outward and injuring Murray on the process as he impeded his progress and clipped his left thigh.
Michael Malone is not happy about the Poeltl screen that clipped Jamal Murray pic.twitter.com/1DcRYE9HnV
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) April 26, 2019
“I think there have been some illegal screens that have been missed, and the response from the league (after the Nuggets submitted the plays for review) has been that we’re right,” Malone said, according to Mike Singer of The Denver Post. “But for some reason, they don’t catch them during the game. Obviously Jamal got taken out on that play. I don’t know if it was dirty or not.”
Murray stayed down for a few seconds before getting up and hobbling to the sideline. His coach immediately took to speaking to the referees while the rest of his teammates attended to him.
Poeltl however, didn't think there was anything wrong with his screen-setting throughout this series.
“I think I am setting legal screens,” Poeltl said afterward. “If I’m not, somebody is going to let me know about it. I’m not really worried about it.”
Murray stayed in the game and buried a floater on his next shot. Only minutes later, as the Nuggets trailing 71-67, the Nuggets point guard was called for an offensive foul after shoving Poeltl in the chest.
The Blue Arrow finished the game with 16 points on 7-of-19 shooting from the floor, now awaiting a Game 7 at home for the first time since 1978 after a 120-103 loss to the Spurs on Thursday.
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