Getty Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks tangles with Marcus Morris Sr. of the LA Clippers during the fourth quarter in Game Four of the Western Conference First Round during the 2020 NBA Playoffs.
Los Angeles Clippers forward Marcus Morris has apologized to Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic for a hard foul that occurred during the postseason last year, according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. Per MacMahon, Doncic said Morris apologized the flagrant foul at the basket, and the Dallas point guard noted there is no ill will between them. Morris was ejected after the hit on Doncic, which you can watch on the clip below:
Marcus Morris was given a flagrant 2 and was ejected for this foul on Luka Doncic.
“He’s a hell of a player, hell of a defender,” Doncic said about Morris, adding: “Trash talk is always there, and if it’s not, you’re not really competing. It’s going to be great.”
The Clips are set to face the Mavs in the first round of the NBA playoffs, but don’t expect any tension to carry over from the incident, as it appears squashed.
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Morris Had Spoken About the Incident Before…
Doncic had been nursing an ankle injury when the flagrant foul happened, and Morris appeared to step on or very close to it. He told the media after it happened that any contact with Doncic’s ankle was accidental.
“He’s a young player; he’s going to be the face of the league in a while. I’ve taken into account of all that,” Morris said about Doncic after he was ejected for the hard contact last year. “I have been around for a while; I know how this thing works. If it was anybody else, I don’t think it would be taken out of context that way. It is what it is. I am a grown man; I stand on my own. Like I said, I didn’t mean to step on his ankle. They can say the stuff that they want to say, this and that, on Twitter, whatever.”
The Mavs star apparently didn’t reveal any details about the apology from Morris, and Morris hasn’t spoken about it since.
Doncic Will Be Huge Focal Point for Clippers in Upcoming Playoff Series
The Clippers won last year’s playoff matchup against Dallas, 4-2, but Doncic was a thorn in L.A.’s side game after game, averaging 31 points per contest throughout the series. Dallas has also gone 2-1 against an injury-riddled Clippers team this season, but Clips head coach Ty Lue says his team has a plan to contain Doncic and company.
“We want to keep him off balanced as much as possible,” Lue told Sports Illustrated. “We know [Kristaps] Porzingis is back, he’s healthy so he poses a problem, especially being 7-[feet]-1, 7-2, for him to shoot the ball the way he does and also be able to post-up, roll, pop. He does a lot of different things. Of course, Rick Carlisle is a Hall of Fame coach who also is big for that team, as well. We know we have our hands full, we know they are a good team, they have been playing great this year, it is going to be a good challenge for us.”
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