The NBA Playoffs first-round series between the Boston Celtics and the Atlanta Hawks took a significant turn on Monday after it was announced that Dejounte Murray is going to be suspended for Game 4 after making contact with a referee at the end of their Game 3 loss on Sunday. At this point, Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum has to be breathing a sigh of relief.
Murray is a key player for the Hawks, and not having him available in a do-or-die Game 5 bout is an undeniably significant blow for Atlanta. This isn't the main reason why Tatum should be relieved, though.
Incidentally, Jayson Tatum also made contact with a referee in Game 4, but according to NBA insider Marc Stein, the league has decided not to punish the Celtics All-Star for his actions:
“The NBA, I'm told, did look at Jayson Tatum's contact with a referee from the same game but did not see deem it a violation for the Boston star as it did in Murray's case,” Stein wrote in his tweet.
Here is a look at Tatum's incident alongside that of Murray's. You be the judge:
Tatum pushed a ref btw
pic.twitter.com/CdFtkAMuxi https://t.co/PDGUvROEQM
— . (@Derudontknow) April 24, 2023
Dejounte Murray appeared to say something to a ref after the Hawks’ Game 4 loss.
(via @creatorjordan23) pic.twitter.com/2KdiRpZqed
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 24, 2023
To be fair, there's no denying that Murray was much more aggressive in how he interacted with the referee after the game. In fact, one could argue that he nearly hit the game official with a headbutt. Tatum, on the other hand, forcefully shoved away the ref, who was in his way as he made his way back onto the court. Then again, there was a bit of force there from the Celtics superstar.
At the end of the day, though, it's Murray who's going to be forced to sit out Game 5, while Tatum has a chance to lead Boston to a series-clinching win on Tuesday night.
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