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Clippers' Marcus Morris Ejected vs. Mavericks After Flagrant Foul on Luka Doncic
August 30, 2020
Los Angeles Clippers forward Marcus Morris was ejected Sunday after picking up a flagrant-2 foul on Luka Doncic:
The incident came in the first quarter of the Game 6 matchup between the Clippers and Dallas Mavericks, with Los Angeles leading the first-round series 3-2.
After the game, Morris said he considered the play to be a "hard foul":
Doncic called it a "terrible foul" during his postgame media session, noting Morris' previous history:
In addition to the hard foul Sunday, Morris had also stepped on Doncic's injured ankle in Game 5, although he denied (note: contains language NSFW) after the game that he tried to hurt the All-Star.
Both players discussed the previous incident after the Clippers' Game 5 win:
Clippers coach Doc Rivers defended his player Sunday during an interview with ESPN after the first quarter.
"He got ejected because he's Marcus to be honest," Rivers said, via Mirjam Swanson of the Southern California News Group. "He made a play on the ball and his hand followed through. But we can't worry about that, we have to play better."
Morris certainly has a reputation for questionable plays, and his work as an instigator has already helped the Clippers this series. The forward got into a scuffle with Kristaps Porzingis in Game 1, leading to an ejection for the Mavericks star.
With Porzingis out the rest of the series with a meniscus tear, Dallas must rely heavily on Doncic, who entered Game 6 averaging 29.6 points, 10 rebounds and 8.6 assists per game in the playoffs. Taking the second-year player out of the game—either by injury or ejection following a retaliation—could almost clinch a win for the Clippers.
Whether this was Morris' intent or not, he will be unavailable the rest of the game.
It removes a player who has started all six playoff games for the Clippers and averaged 13.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game through the first five appearances.