Dejounte Murray is having none of it.
Down a point to the Nets in Wednesday’s game, the Hawks had two timeouts remaining when John Collins secured a rebound with 7.5 seconds left. Instead of using a timeout, the Hawks elected to push the ball up the court for a last-second attempt at a game-winner. Murray’s rushed 3-pointer missed, and the Hawks lost a hard-fought 108-107 decision despite playing without three starters.
Following the loss, there were many questions and much discussion about whether coach Nate McMillan should have used a timeout to advance the ball and set up a final play.
Murray is more concerned with what happened seconds earlier.
Murray made only one of his two free-throw attempts with 29.9 seconds remaining that made it a one-point game. Had the Hawks guard made both, the score would have been tied at 108. He took to social media Thursday to make that point well-known and to take ownership of the failing.
Murray posted on Twitter in direct response to a local radio personality questioning McMillan’s decision not to call a timeout. “Dejounte Makes Both Free Throws And We Go To OT And Calling A Timeout Doesn’t Matter!!! That (expletive) On Me And Not On Nate SIMPLE AS THAT!!!!!!”
After Murray’s free throws, the Nets’ Kyrie Irving missed a 3-pointer with 9.2 seconds remaining, setting up Collins’ rebound. Collins passed to Murray, who dribbled upcourt and missed a 27-foot 3-point attempt as time expired.
After the game, McMillan said he was trying to catch the Nets in transition.
“I had two timeouts, I could have called a timeout,” McMillan said. “But that was a miss, and you want to catch them in transition and see if you can, it’s a one-point game, see if you can get down before their defense gets set. In situations like that I’ve allowed our guys to go, so that (opponents) can’t get their defensive team out on the floor and it didn’t work out for us.”
After the game, Murray said he understood and agreed with the decision to not call a timeout.
“I think (Nate) did the right thing,” Murray said. “I feel like a bunch of coaches would do that in that situation. We got the rebound, five seconds left, you gotta go. I missed the shot, it happens, who cares, onto the next game.”
