Lakers' Markieff Morris Ejected After Shoving Rockets' DeMarcus Cousins

Los Angeles Lakers forward Markieff Morris was ejected from Sunday's matchup vs. the Houston Rockets after a scuffle with center DeMarcus Cousins.   

Cousins took exception to Morris barreling through Jae'Sean Tate and laid into him with a shoulder and forearm, knocking him to the ground. Morris then got up and jogged over to Cousins, dropping a shoulder into Boogie's chest. 

Per Lakers reporter Mike Trudell, each player was given both a technical foul and a flagrant 1, though only Morris was ejected. 

Cousins wasn't long for the game, however. Shortly after his altercation with Morris, he was ejected for a hard foul on LeBron James that earned him a flagrant 2. 

Neither Morris nor Cousins is a stranger to technical fouls and ejections. Morris has long had a reputation as a hard-nosed player who isn't afraid to mix it up on the court. Cousins and NBA referees often haven't seen eye to eye in the past. 

Suffice to say, these two mixing it up and getting ejected in the same game isn't exactly improbable.

The Lakers cut Cousins last season to clear roster space to acquire Morris for their championship push, adding to the intrigue of Sunday's showdown. The 31-year-old Morris is averaging 4.2 points in 15.9 minutes per game for the Lakers this season. 

Cousins, 30, has posted 5.8 points and 5.8 rebounds in 13.6 minutes per game for the Rockets this year after not appearing in an NBA contest last season due to a torn ACL suffered in Aug. 2019. He played in just 30 games for the Golden State Warriors in the 2018-19 campaign after recovering from a ruptured Achilles.