Hawks' Dejounte Murray suspended for postgame altercation with referee
Atlanta Hawks guard Dejounte Murray won't be in uniform as his team faces elimination in its first-round playoff series following a confrontation with referee Gediminas Petraitis on Sunday.
On Monday, the NBA suspended Murray one game without pay "for making inappropriate contact with and verbally abusing a game official," NBA executive vice president/head of basketball operations Joe Dumars announced in a news release..
The incident occurred after the Hawks' 129-121 loss to the Boston Celtics in Game 4 when Murray approached Petraitis, yelled at him and made physical contact as the two were leaving the court. The NBA has some tolerance with players yelling at referees, but making contact in an aggressive manner is a major mistake.
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Murray continued yelling before a Hawks player and staffer eventually escorted him toward the locker room.
The six-year veteran had 23 points in Sunday's loss, which put the Hawks in a 3-1 hole entering Tuesday's Game 5 in Atlanta.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hawks' Dejounte Murray suspended for postgame incident with referee
