NBA: Hawks star Young ejected after hard ball toss to referee

Young, who leads Atlanta with his averages of 26.8 points and 10 assists, had 14 points and five assists when he was ejected.

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Nickel Alexander-Walker fouls Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young as he dribbles past in the third quarter of an NBA game on March 22, 2023.

Hawks star Trae Young was ejected after heaving the ball hard to referee Scott Wall in the third quarter of Atlanta’s 143-130 win over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday.

After Hawks coach Quin Snyder called a timeout in the third quarter with the game tied at 84, Young first bounced the ball and then threw a hard, two-handed pass at Wall, who caught the ball. Young was immediately called for a technical foul and ejected.

Only seconds earlier, Young had an apparent 3-pointer disallowed when he was called for a technical foul for sticking out his leg and tripping Aaron Nesmith.

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

Snyder said Young acknowledged his mistake.

“There wasn’t a single part of him that tried to rationalize what happened,” Snyder said.

The technical foul was Young’s 15th of the season. A 16th technical foul results in an automatic one-game suspension.

Young, who leads Atlanta with his averages of 26.8 points and 10 assists, had 14 points and five assists when he was ejected.

The game was tied at 84 when Young was ejected.

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