DENVER (AP) — The Denver Nuggets were without two big pieces of their offense in Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. for their game against the short-handed Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night.
Murray missed a second straight game due to tightness in his right hamstring. Porter was a late scratch as he deals with a family situation, Nuggets coach Michael Malone said.
“I told Michael, ‘Listen, family is more important than anything. You’ve got to be with your family,’” Malone said.
Malone didn't elaborate on Porter's family matter. Malone added: "Obviously, our thoughts and prayers are with Michael and his entire family at this time.”
Murray is averaging 21.6 points and six assists this season. Porter has been an outside threat, hitting a team-leading 182 3-pointers this season while averaging 18.2 points.
“The game becomes that much more challenging without two starters that average whatever many points they average combined,” Malone said. “We as a group, we’ve shown this year, many times, when undermanned, when we dig deep, what we’re capable of.”
With Murray, Porter and Julian Strawther (left knee) all sidelined, Malone was asked how that might alter his team's spacing of the floor.
“You wait and watch, baby. We just put it in — a new offense — 15 minutes ago,” Malone cracked
Really, though, it remains the same — get the ball to NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, who's averaging 29.3 points, 12.8 rebounds and 10.2 assists.
“Honestly, it’s not how well-spaced the floor, because our guys will space the floor correctly. It’s how will they guard us? That’s really the question,” Malone said. "Because whether that’s Michael Porter in the right corner or Peyton Watson in the right corner, we’ll space it correctly. Now we have to read and react to how they’re going to guard us.
"Obviously, without a Jamal Murray out there, without a Michael Porter Jr. out there, we expect to see a lot more double teams, a lot more crowds, and that’s where hopefully we can find a way to get some not only stops, but defensive rebounds so we can get out and run. If we’re playing half-court basketball tonight, this could be a long night for us.”
The Timberwolves were without center Naz Reid and guard Donte DiVincenzo, who both received a one-game suspension for their roles in an on-court altercation against the Detroit Pistons on Sunday.
The league announced suspensions for both teams Tuesday.
“Glad we were able to get news of it early enough so we could plan, adjust, move on,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said.
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Utah Jazz guard Collin Sexton, right, is stopped while driving the lane by Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. in the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 28, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Milwaukee Bucks guard Kevin Porter Jr., back right, is blocked by Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, back left, as guard Jamal Murray heads to the basket in the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — After giving a red carpet welcome this week to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity in Gaza, Hungary announced it would quit the court.
Should Hungary follow through with its withdrawal from the world’s only permanent global court for war crimes and genocide, it will become only the third country in the institution’s history of more than 20 years to do so. The process will take more than a year.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who gave the Israeli leader a welcome with full military honors on Thursday in defiance of the ICC arrest warrant, signed the Rome Statute, which established the court, during his first term in office.
The ICC was established in The Hague in 2002 as the court of last resort to prosecute individuals responsible for the world’s most heinous atrocities: war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression. It takes on cases when nations are unable or unwilling to prosecute crimes on their territory.
Hungary signed the Rome Statute in 1999 and ratified the treaty on Nov. 30, 2001.
The court’s newest member, Ukraine, formally joined in January, bringing the number of member states to 125. The United States, Russia, China and Israel are among nations that are not members.
Judges at the court have issued 60 arrest warrants and convicted 11 people. Last month, the court arrested former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on murder charges linked to the deadly “war on drugs” that he oversaw while in office.
The Rome Statute lays out the steps a member state needs to take if they want to withdraw from the court. The state party must inform the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the withdrawal takes effect one year after the receipt of the notification.
Announcing it will leave, however, doesn’t free Hungary from its duties under the treaty.
“There is a provision which says that your obligation to cooperate continues for the cases that were ongoing when you were still a party,” Göran Sluiter, professor of international criminal law at the University of Amsterdam, told The Associated Press. “So they still have an ongoing obligation to arrest Netanyahu,” he said.
Zsolt Semjén, Hungary’s deputy prime minister, submitted a bill to parliament to approve the withdrawal, which is expected to pass.
Just two other countries have left the court. The East African nation of Burundi left in 2017 and, in 2019, then-President Duterte withdrew the Philippines after judges allowed the investigation into his drug crackdown that killed thousands to continue.
If Hungary leaves, it will become the only country in the European Union that is not a member of the court.
A three-judge panel issued arrest warrants in November for Netanyahu, his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas’ military chief, Mohammed Deif, accusing them of crimes against humanity in connection with the 13-month war in Gaza.
The warrants said there was reason to believe Netanyahu and Gallant have used “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid and intentionally targeted civilians in Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza, charges Israeli officials deny.
The warrant marked the first time a sitting leader of a major Western ally has been accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the global court of justice and has sparked major pushback from supporters of Israel, including the U.S.
The ICC criticized Hungary’s decision to defy its warrant for Netanyahu, with the court’s spokesperson, Fadi El Abdallah, saying on Thursday that the court “recalls that Hungary remains under a duty to cooperate with the ICC.”
Human rights groups also have condemned the move.
“Hungary still has the opportunity to arrest Netanyahu — as unlikely as that seems, there’s still time. We expect other ICC members and particularly EU member states who are united in their commitment to the court to press Hungary hard on meeting its clear, legal obligations on arrest,” Liz Evenson, international justice director at Human Rights Watch, told the AP.
Last year, Mongolia refused to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin during a state visit. Judges ruled Mongolia had failed to comply with its obligations and referred the matter to the court’s oversight board, the Assembly of States Parties.
Associated Press reporter Justin Spike in Budapest contributed to this report.
FILE - A general view of the exterior of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Havana, file)
