NBA investigating Hawks' Murray for bumping referee

Atlanta Hawks guard Dejounte Murray. David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

NBA investigating Hawks' Dejounte Murray for bumping referee after loss

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Larry Brown | Last updated 4/24/23

The NBA is investigating Dejounte Murray for bumping into a referee after his Atlanta Hawks lost 129-121 to the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series on Sunday.

Murray was frustrated after his team’s defeat, which put Atlanta down 3-1 in the series. He walked over to referee Gediminas Petraitis, leaned in towards the official’s face, and bumped him.

Murray had to be calmed down by a coach and teammate on his way off the court at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

It’s unclear exactly why Murray was upset with Petraitis. The Hawks guard was called for three fouls over the final three minutes of the game, though two were take fouls.

The final foul numbers for the game were very even too. Boston was called for 23 fouls compared to 24 for Atlanta. The Celtics got 25 free throws and the Hawks got 24.

Petraitis was in the middle of tons of contact. Jayson Tatum also bumped the official during the third quarter.

Jayson Tatum pushes one ref and yell at another one but they focus on Trae Young pic.twitter.com/z9TVkss2yS

— Roy Harris (@Brotha2ThaNite) April 24, 2023

The NBA is investigating Murray’s contact with Petraitis.

The NBA is investigating Hawks guard Dejounte Murray’s actions toward officials at the end of Game 4 Sunday night, a league source told ESPN.

— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) April 24, 2023