Dejounte Murray didn't endear himself to the officials after the Atlanta Hawks' Game 4 defeat at the hands of the Boston Celtics on Sunday. The Hawks guard was seen confronting a referee and giving him a nudge following his team's 129-121 loss.
Murray walked right up to referee number 50 Gediminas Petraitis and leaned in close during the dying moments of Game 4.
Dejounte Murray bumped a referee at the end of Celtics-Hawks Game 4 😬
(via @creatorjordan23)pic.twitter.com/mhUbeEW5Cc
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) April 24, 2023
The frustrations were clearly at a high after the Celtics stymied any and all efforts from the Hawks to get back into the game. Boston kept Atlanta at an arm's length for most of the game. While they never led by more than 14, the Celtics never trailed beginning midway through the first quarter.
The Hawks got some big games from their key players as Dejounte Murray, Trae Young, and DeAndre Hunter combined to score 85 of Atlanta's 121 points. But the Celtics' stars showed up as well. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown had 31 points apiece, while Marcus Smart and Derrick White poured in a combined 37 points.
A comeback from down 3-1 isn't impossible, but it takes a special performance for a team to manage to dig themselves out of that hole. NBA teams have only overcome the deficit 13 times in NBA history and only five times since the 2006 playoffs.
The NBA will reportedly investigate the incident which may come with a potential punishment for Murray. Should Atlanta be down their second-leading scorer, it's going to be a tall task for Trae Young and the rest of the Hawks to force a comeback against the Celtics.
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