DENVER — Jamal Murray likely earned himself a hefty fine in the second quarter of Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals Monday in Denver.

Sitting on the bench, Murray threw an ice pack onto the floor that bounced off Wolves forward Kyle Anderson and fell to the court in the middle of the action.

Officials didn’t see the toss, so no technical foul was incurred. But what’s not entirely clear is whether Murray threw the object out of frustration with the officials, or if the Nuggets point guard was attempting to throw in the proverbial towel.

What Minnesota did to Denver on Monday would make a lot of people want to quit.

The Wolves won 106-80 to take a 2-0 series lead. They led by as many as 32 points, a new franchise record for a playoff lead. The end-of-bench subs for both teams were on the floor with three minutes to play and, frankly, they could’ve entered the action far earlier.

“Wolves in 4” chants broke out in the waning seconds of the contest. Minnesota will indeed have a chance to close out the series at Target Center. Game 3 is set for Friday in Minneapolis.

The Timberwolves’ defense — playing without the presumptive Defensive Player of the Year in Rudy Gobert, who missed the game following the birth of his child — gave Denver’s usually astute offense absolutely nothing Monday.

Denver scored just 20 points in the first quarter and 15 in the second.

The Nuggets in the first half shot 33 percent from the field. They had just three more made field goals (14) than turnovers (11) over the first 24 minutes. Their 26-point halftime deficit was the largest playoff home deficit a defending champ had faced since 1992.

In the third quarter, it was clear the Nuggets had mailed it in. Their defensive performance and effort to get to loose balls screamed it. Nikola Jokic had just 16 points on 13 shots. Jamal Murray, who is battling a calf injury, went just 3 for 18. Michael Porter Jr. went 1 for 7 from distance.

You name the player, and Minnesota shut him down. The champs were firmly planted on the mat.

At least for one night, the Wolves had broken the Nuggets.

That statement, frankly, is sounding like a broken record in these playoffs. Because the same thing could be said of Phoenix on multiple nights in Round 1.

Maybe the attention will start to shift away from the teams doing the folding and onto the team firmly collapsing the chair via the vise grip known as the NBA’s best defense.

It’s again taking center stage, with a dominance that’s undeniable.

The second half was Minnesota’s playground, as Karl-Anthony Towns — playing center again for the first time in a long time — was aggressively attacking mismatches at every opportunity. He finished with 27 points and 12 rebounds.

And then the Anthony Edwards show played out. The guard finished with 27 points including a number of difficult shots that seemingly always served as rebuttals whenever Denver tried to make even the smallest push.

After a deep, highly contested triple went down, Edwards just turned and shrugged at the crowd, which will only further invoke the comparisons between the Wolves’ guard and Michael Jordan.

At one point in the fourth quarter, loud MVP chants broke out for Edwards — the second-straight series in which that’s occurred in a road arena.

No, Denver isn’t Edwards’ house — but no matter the building, this is quickly becoming his — and Minnesota’s — League.

BRIEFLY

Wolves guard Monte Morris left the game with a sprained finger and did not return, while Nuggets guard Reggie Jackson was helped to the locker room in the second half and also didn’t return.

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