DALLAS – Denver Nuggets goalie Jamal Murray was sent off after what appeared to be a deliberate shot in the groin area of Tim Hardaway Jr. of the Dallas Mavericks in the second half of their game Monday night.
Murray stumbled backwards after the pair collided while Denver was attacking. Murray stood up and extended Hardaway’s legs with his right arm, causing Hardaway to fall back.
The officer closest to the contact blew the whistle to stop playing with 4:51 left for the third quarter and conferred on the other referees. The initial call was a foul against Murray and was upgraded to a flagrant foul 2 in a video review.
Murray had 16 points when he was sent off, his own team leader from the break.
The Nuggets were leading 80-73 when the game stopped, and Hardaway scored the next seven points in just 23 seconds to get to the Mavericks, even before getting his first lead early in the first quarter.
Still, the Nuggets won 117-113 again.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.