The Los Angeles Clippers will live to fight for at least another game in the 2021 NBA Playoffs after Paul George and company put up a valiant effort to snatch a 116-102 win in Game 5 against the Phoenix Suns Monday night. People will talk about George's heroics in that game, but what Marcus Morris Sr. did shouldn't go unnoticed.
Morris set the tone early for the undermanned Clippers, scoring 13 points of his 22 points right in the very first quarter, going 6 of 7 from the field, while also getting the main task of bodying up Suns big man Deandre Ayton. Containing Ayton was a tall task for the Clippers in Game 5, especially since they didn't have Ivica Zubac who got ruled out of the contest because of a knee problem. Fortunately for the Clippers, they had some success in limiting Ayton, in part because Morris got used in the previous playoffs series to getting assigned to the beasts and giants of the opposing teams.
Via Shane Young of Forbes Sports:
Marcus Morris on playing against Deandre Ayton:
“Ayton is a great young talent that's coming up. The last two series kind of prepared me for him. Guarding Gobert, I had Boban, a little bit of Porzingis. He's a relentless rebounder.”
Expected to eat against the Clippers' slim frontcourt, Ayton instead ended up with just 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting, though he did grab 11 rebounds in 37 minutes of action.
Marcus Morris and the Clippers will look to force a Game 7 when they host the Suns on Wednesday at STAPLES Center.
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