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Tim BontempsESPN
The NBA is investigating Hawks guard Dejounte Murray‘s actions toward officials at the end of Atlanta’s 129-121 home loss to the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference first-round series, a league source told ESPN.
Murray, who had 23 points, nine rebounds and six assists in 40 minutes during Sunday’s game — which saw the Celtics take a 3-1 series lead — appeared to make contact with referee Gediminas Petraitis as Murray was walking off the floor. Murray then turned back and pointed and yelled at someone before exiting the court.
The Hawks did not make Murray available for interviews after the game.
In these situations, the NBA typically makes a decision on discipline before the next game in the series. The Hawks will face the Celtics in Boston for Game 5 on Tuesday night, with another C’s victory allowing them to advance to the conference semifinals against the Philadelphia 76ers and ending Atlanta’s season.
The league also customarily takes a hard stance against anyone making contact with a game official. In October, Celtics forward Grant Williams was suspended for a game for making contact with a game official when he was ejected in the fourth quarter of a loss to the Chicago Bulls.
Murray is averaging 25.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 2.3 steals through four games in this series. He is in his first season with the Hawks after being acquired in a blockbuster trade with the San Antonio Spurs last summer.
In 74 regular-season games, Murray — who was an All-Star last season with the Spurs — averaged 20.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists.
While still with San Antonio last season, Murray was fined $20,000 after he was ejected from a game at the Memphis Grizzlies on Feb. 28, 2022, for throwing a game ball off the legs of a referee.
ESPN’s Coley Harvey contributed to this report.
Source: www.espn.com