Jamal Murray was spectacular on Monday night, pouring in a career-high 48 points, five rebounds and four assists in the Denver Nuggets' 115-107 win over the Boston Celtics.
Murray was on fire shooting 19-for-30 from the field, tying Steve Nash's 48 in the 2005 playoffs against the Dallas Mavericks for the highest scoring output by a Canadian in the NBA.
Jamal on matching up with Kyrie.#MileHighBasketball pic.twitter.com/ZRsnZnQdzC
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) November 6, 2018
Murray wanted 50, the Denver crowd wanted him to get to 50 and instead of dribbling out the clock late in the game, he chose to attempt to go for 50 by putting up a late jumper as the buzzer sounded to end the game, breaking one of the league's unwritten rules which drew the ire of the visitors — and more specifically Kyrie Irving.
Irving was congratulatory after the game on Murray's accomplishment but wasn't a fan of the late jumper to attempt to hit 50.
"I mean, what kind of competitor wouldn't it bother?" Irving asked postgame. "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.
"Congratulations to him on his 48 points. He did it in a great fashion against us. Our defence has to be better, especially against a player like that.
"He was the primary concern tonight. He made us pay in certain instances, making some tough shots and some tough layups. But the ball deserves to go in the crowd after a [expletive] move like that."
After Murray's missed attempt at 50, the ball landed near Irving, who took it and threw it into the crowd out of frustration.
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
Irving was fined 25,000 dollars for his actions, but he didn't regret his decision: "Well deserved. There's a sense of professionalism that you have to uphold in this league, and I failed to do so. I take full responsibility for it," Irving stated. "Obviously in the event anyone gets hurt, I'm taking full responsibility for it. You just don't want to have situations like that."
The Nuggets and Celtics play one more time in the regular season, this time in Boston on March 18, 2019 — a date the Celtics and their fans have probably now circled on their calendars.
