Timberwolves coach calls Jamal Murray’s 16 free throws 'a head scratcher' as Nuggets take Game 1
DENVER (AP) — Jamal Murray shot and made 16 free throws. The entire Minnesota Timberwolves team went to the line 19 times. It was a discrepancy not lost on Minnesota coach Chris Finch.
“Well, the 16 free throws from Murray was a head scratcher,” Finch said after a 116-105 loss to the Nuggets in Game 1 of their first-round series Saturday. “I thought we played really good defense on him. ” Murray, though, begs to differ.
“I thought I got fouled on every single one of them,” Murray said after finishing with 30 points. “I don’t know what everybody’s talking about. Real fouls.
” By going 16 of 16, Murray earned a spot in the Nuggets' record book. It's the most free throws without a miss in a playoff game in team history, breaking the mark of 14 by Bryant Stith at Utah on May 17, 1994. It's the most free throws Murray has attempted in a game in his NBA career.
When his long-range jumper wasn't falling — he was 0 for 8 from the 3-point line — Murray simply took it closer to the hoop. He shot eight free throws in the second quarter alone. “A lot of those ones in the second quarter, we were there,” Finch said.