Prior to the Eastern Conference finals, Boston Celtics forward Marcus Morris made a bold statement, saying he’s the most capable player to cover LeBron James outside of Kawhi Leonard. In Game 1 of the series on Sunday, Morris reinforced his words by playing a huge role in slowing down the Cleveland Cavaliers superstar in a 108-83 victory at home.
James had an underwhelming performance, finishing with just 15 points on a horrid 5-for-16 shooting from the field and a 0-for-5 line from the 3-point region. On top of those, James also turned the ball over seven times. It was not just an off night for James. His pathetic showing was also a direct result of the solid defensive job on him by Morris. Following the game, Morris did not try to rake in all the accolades for his defensive effort, as he also shared the success with his teammates.
“It’s a team effort, man. It’s not just me. Everybody played their part in guarding him. He’s obviously the best player in the game. We need multiple guys in the team to guard him the entire game. I just think we did a great job of that.”
As a team, the Cavs made only 36.0 percent of their field goal attempts – the worst by the team in a game so far in these playoffs. Boston also did a good job of winning the rebounding battle, 48-40, to limit Cleveland’s scoring opportunities.
Marcus Morris should brace himself for a LeBron James bounce-back performance, as the Cavs are 4-1 in their last five games after a loss. In any case, Morris has already made his presence felt on defense and on offense as well in the series, as he also scored 21 points in Game 1.
