Wolves' Chris Finch Calls Out Jamal Murray's 16 Free-Throw Attempts After Game 1 Loss to Nuggets

Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch called out Denver Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray's 16 free-throw attempts following Denver's Game 1 victory over Minnesota in the first round of the playoffs.

"The 16 free throws from (Jamal) Murray is a head scratcher," Finch told reporters after Saturday's contest.

"I thought we played really good defense on him," he added. "A lot of those ones in the second quarter we were there. We were physical, we were vertical. He initiates the contact, he spills away and then he gets rewarded for it. Jokić does the same thing. We've got to be solid around that, but 16 free throws is a lot."

Murray finished with 30 points while shooting 7-of-22 from the field, but shot 16-of-16 on free throws during the Nuggets' 116-105 win.

He never attempted more than 15 free throws in a game during the regular season.

Denver shot 30-of-33 from the charity stripe during Saturday's contest, while Minnesota shot 14-of-19 on its free throws.

Murray discussed his free-throw shooting following the game.

"I mean, four of them were technicals," Murray told reporters. "Before the ball gets inbounds, this and that. I thought I got fouled on every single one of them. I don't know what everybody's talking about. It's real fouls."

The Nuggets and Timberwolves ranked No. 4 and No. 7 among all NBA teams in free-throw attempts during the regular season, respectively.

Minnesota opened Game 1 on a high note, starting off with a 23-12 lead and maintaining a 33-23 edge at the end of the first quarter.

The Nuggets quickly responded in the second, outscoring the Timberwolves 39-29 in the period to tie the score at halftime.

Minnesota's offense struggled to keep up in the third quarter, recording just 17 points in 12 minutes of game time.

While the Timberwolves climbed back from a 14-point deficit to cut Denver's lead to a mere two points with just over six minutes left in the game, Nuggets star Nikola Jokić scored five straight points to give his team more breathing room and hold on for the win.

Jokić scored 25 points and grabbed 13 rebounds while dishing out 11 assists, shooting 11-of-19 from the field. He only took one free throw.

Game 2 between the Timberwolves and Nuggets is on Monday at 10:30 p.m. ET.