Marcus Morris’ post game explanation about his foul on Luka Doncic was accompanied by bouts of encouragement from Pat Beverley and Lou Williams.
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Luka Doncic once again had to bear the brunt of Marcus Morris tonight when the Clippers star hit him on the head in the 1st quarter of Game 6.
The Mavericks superstar was driving towards the rim when Marcus Morris struck him on the shoulder and then on the follow through hit him on the head.
Swept to the floor, Luka was quick to get up and was on his way to give something back to Morris, when Boban intervened. Better sense prevailed and Luka did not indulge in a full blown fight. Morris was ejected and Luka was able to carry on without much fear of being ‘fouled’ again.
Marcus Morris has been ejected for this foul on Luka Doncic pic.twitter.com/uY1R0DomW8
— The Undefeated (@TheUndefeated) August 30, 2020
Marcus Morris’ explanation; Pat Beverley and Lou Williams’ encouragement
With two bad fouls in 2 games, there have been questions over Morris’ integrity while trying too guard Luka Doncic. In the previous game, replays suggested that Morris had purposely stepped on Doncic’s injured ankle and today he ended up hitting Doncic on his head.
The Clippers man, however, was quick to clarify that there was no intended malice during both those fouls. He emphasised on how things were being blown out of proportion just because Luka was involved.
Luka, however, was having none of that and felt that Morris was indeed doing it on purpose.
“I thought it was a hard foul,” Morris said.
“I ended up giving it to him above the shoulders. They had made the call. Honestly, we had a lot of back and forth in the series. It was a hard-fought series. I just don’t want people to mistake playing basketball and playing hard means you’re trying to hurt somebody.” he added.
Morris spoke about how he was a physical player and that he was standing by his statement of not trying to injure Luka Doncic.
“It’s just that I’m physical,” Morris said.
Also Read: Doc Rivers defends Marcus Morris for his flagrant 2 foul on Luka Doncic
“Some guys take it in different ways. He’s a young player and will be the face in the league a while. If it was anybody else, I don’t think it would’ve been taken out of context that way. It is what it is. I’m a grown man. I stand on my own.” he concluded.
And while Morris was giving that interview, there were bouts of encouragement in there from Pat Beverley and Lou Williams, who were egging on their teammate for being tough with Luka Doncic.
“Keep it gangster!” Lou Williams blurted, whereas Pat Beverley referred to Morris as Tyrone Hill(a player known for his physical style of play).
From how Morris’ teammates were addressing those bad fouls on Luka, it seems as if the Clippers had provided Morris with a ‘plan of action’ against Doncic.
Morris was playing hard all through, being physical with Luka, however, he wasn’t really able to pull off those fouls cheekily enough.