Mavericks' Luka Doncic: I don't want to deal with players like Clippers' Marcus Morris
Los Angeles Clippers forward Marcus Morris isn't well-liked by Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic following their first-round meeting in the NBA playoffs.
In Game 5, it looked like Morris deliberately stepped on Doncic's left ankle area, the same ankle that he twisted earlier in the series. Doncic brushed it off, saying that he hoped it wasn't intentional.
Morris, of course, denied any foul play, but then appeared to try and injure Doncic again in Game 6. Morris was ejected after committing a flagrant foul 2 against Doncic.
Doncic was driving to the hoop with 1:07 remaining in the first quarter when Morris swiped and smacked him in the side of the head, causing Doncic to hit the floor. As Morris glared toward the 21-year-old, Doncic stood up to confront the Clippers veteran before teammates pulled the two away from each other.
After the Mavericks' season-ending Game 6 loss to the Clippers, Doncic discussed his heated altercations with Morris, and he wasn't too happy about it.
"It was a terrible play. What can I say?" Doncic said, according to ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk and Tim MacMahon. "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."
While the altercations were frustrating for Doncic, he managed to put up some pretty impressive numbers in his first playoff series ... so it clearly didn't bother him too much. Doncic averaged 31 points, 9.8 rebounds and 8.7 assists per game, all while dealing with a roughed-up ankle.
Although the Mavericks will be exiting the NBA's Orlando bubble, there's no doubt the beef between Doncic and Morris will continue into next season.
More must-reads: