Jamal Murray’s dunk of the year waved off by referee’s nightmare call
Fans in attendance and social media savagely roasted an NBA referee who made a nightmare decision that cost one superstar in a big way.
Jamal Murray threw down an iconic poster dunk on Tuesday, only for an official to wave it off as an offensive foul.
The Denver Nuggets took care of business against the league-leading Milwaukee Bucks, thanks to the exploits of Murray, by claiming the 109-95 victory.
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But it was in the dying seconds of the third quarter when Murray really made his presence known as he exploded to the rim.
Murray drove past Pat Connaughton into the paint before he planted his foot and soaring up and over the top of D.J Wilson.
The reaction from the crowd and the commentators was one of utter shock, which then quickly turned into outright anger when one referee signalled the dunk was an offensive foul and whipped the points away.
Social media was, as it always is, equally upset with fans ripping into the official over the nonsense decision.
The Refs screwed Jamal Murray.. Dunk of the year for sure
— Stafon Johnson (@Stafonjohnson26) March 10, 2020
i want the refereeâs name and badge number for ruling this Jamal Murray dunk an offensive foul pic.twitter.com/Z8kdHWDRVx
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) March 10, 2020
The NBA should issue an apology to Jamal Murray for calling a foul on that dunk.
— Michael Spencer (@MichaelCBS4) March 10, 2020
Holy hell!
The dunk was as impressive as the call was horrible.
Jamal Murray gets a dunk on DJ Wilson taken away on a bad call. Looked live like he elbowed him in the face, but it was actually Wilson's arm that he made contact with. Didn't think it rose to level of an offensive foul
— Nate Duncan (@NateDuncanNBA) March 10, 2020
The Bucks were without reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo as they lost their third straight game and four of their past five.
Despite the loss the Bucks still sit clear atop the NBA standings, but will be hoping to get their superstar back into the starting line-up.
Murray finished the game with a team-high 21 points, Paul Millsap had 20 and Jerami Grant added 19 for Denver, while Kyle Korver made 23 points for the Bucks.
But it was Murray’s insane dunk that stole the show on Tuesday afternoon that left Wilson staggering backwards out of bounds.
“It was crazy,” Nuggets teammate Jerami Grant said. “I didn’t think he had it in him. Obviously, he does. We’ve seen it.”
“It definitely wasn’t a foul,” Murray said. “But yeah, I wanted to just drive, and I felt like I had a step, so I just took off.”