Marcus Morris Sr reacts after being ejected for hard foul on Luka Doncic
"It was a terrible play. What can I say?" said Doncic
Monday 31 August 2020 10:42, UK
Marcus Morris Sr denies he was trying to hurt Luka Doncic when he was ejected for a flagrant foul 2 as the Los Angeles Clippers completed a 4-2 series win over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.
Morris threw his arm and made contact with the right side of Doncic's face as the Slovenian was driving to the basket with 1:07 left to play in the opening quarter.
An angry Doncic was then held back by team-mate Boban Marjanovic in a tipping point to what has been an ongoing battle between the two throughout the series.
"They had to make that call," Morris said of his ejection Sunday. "I think, honestly, we had a lot of back-and-forth this series. It was a hard-fought series.
"I just don't want people to mistake playing basketball, playing hard with trying to hurt somebody. I think Tim Hardaway had an extremely hard foul with [Paul George] last game, and it wasn't taken in [the same context]."
Both men had traded words in Game 1, before in Game 5 Morris caused Doncic to lose his balance when he stepped on his injured ankle, the Clippers forward insisting after the game that it had been unintentional.
On this occasion, referee Scott Foster stated in his post-game report that the replay showed Morris wind up, make impact and follow through to Doncic's head and neck area, warranting an automatic ejection, prior to which the 30-year-old had nine points and one rebound.
"He's a young player," added Morris. "He's going to be the face of the league. I've taken into account all of that. I have been around for a while. I know how this thing works. 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 they want to say, they can say it. I am going to continue to play, happy that my team is in the second round."
Doncic had 38 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in the game, but couldn't help Dallas level the series as Kawhi Leonard led the Clippers with 33 points and 14 rebounds.
Speaking after the game, Clippers head coach Doc Rivers described Morris' ejection as a 'reputation throwout' and praised his player's intensity.
The man on the receiving end felt slightly differently about it.
"It was a terrible play. What can I say?" Doncic said post-game.
"It's two games in a row he did something like that. I really hoped the first game it wasn't on purpose, but looking back on the foul this game, you know what I think.
"I don't want to deal with that kind of players. Just move on."
