NBA investigating Murray's actions, source says

The NBA is investigating Atlanta 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 first-round series Sunday night, a league source told ESPN.

Murray, who had 23 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists in 40 minutes in Sunday's game -- which saw the Celtics take a 3-1 series lead -- appeared to make contact with referee Gediminas Petraitis as he was walking off the court at the end of the game. He then turned back and pointed and yelled at someone before exiting the court.

The Hawks did not make Murray available for interviews after Sunday's 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 back in Boston in Game 5 on Tuesday night, with another C's victory allowing them to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Philadelphia 76ers, and ending Atlanta's season.

The league also typically 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 from 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.

Across 74 games this season, Murray -- who was an All-Star last season in San Antonio -- averaged 20.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists.

While still with the Spurs last season, Murray was fined $20,000 after he was ejected from a game in Memphis on Feb. 28, 2022, when he threw a game ball off the legs of a referee.

ESPN's Coley Harvey contributed to this report.