Hawks’ Trae Young gets ejected for hard pass to referee

Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young was sent to the showers early during the team’s 143-130 win over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday night.

The incident occurred in the third quarter with the Hawks and Pacers tied at 84. Hawks coach Quin Snyder called a timeout. Young bounced the ball and then threw a hard chest pass toward referee Scot Wall. The official caught the ball and Young was given a technical foul and ejected.

The tiff occurred after a three-pointer was disallowed over Young tripping Aaron Nesmith. It was Young’s 15th technical foul of the season and one more will result in a one-game suspension. 

“It’s just a play he can’t make,” Snyder said after the game. “I told him that. He knows it.”

Young finished with 14 points, five assists and three rebounds.

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John Collins had 21 points and three assists as Dejounte Murray added 20 points and 12 assists. Murray commented on the team’s ability to stay focused despite losing Young.

“We didn’t allow it to turn into a negative,” Murray said. “We turned it into a positive and got the win.”

Atlanta improved to 37-37 on the year and Indiana fell to 33-42.

With a handful of games left in the season, Atlanta is in eighth place in the Eastern Conference while Indiana is in 12th, and just three games outside the final spot for the play-in tournament.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.