Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic revealed that the Los Angeles Clippers’ Marcus Morris was saying “bad stuff” to him throughout Game 5 of their first-round series on Tuesday.
During the postgame interview, Doncic was asked if Morris offered an explanation for what happened on the court when the Clippers forward stepped on his injured ankle.
"I don't want to talk to him. He's just saying a lot of bad stuff to me… I just hope it wasn't intentional. If that was intentional.. that's really bad."
Luka Doncic addresses Marcus Morris stepping on his injured ankle in game 5. @dallasmavs | #WholeNewGame pic.twitter.com/CqhqxWEAfM
— Bally Sports Southwest (@BallySportsSW) August 26, 2020
“I don’t want to talk to him,” Doncic replied. “He’s just saying a lot of bad stuff to me all the game. I don’t want to talk to him. I just got to move on. Like I say, everyone is going to have their own opinion and I just hope it wasn’t intentional. If that was intentional, that’s really bad.”
Morris was likely trying to get in his opponent’s head to prevent another breakout performance from Doncic, who has been a thorn in the side of Los Angeles.
The play happened during an inbounds play early in the third quarter. With the Clippers comfortably ahead 81-52, Morris ran after Doncic and appeared to intentionally plant his left foot on the Mavs star’s sprained left ankle. Doncic lost his shoe in the process.
His left ankle was injured on Friday during Game 3 of the series. The Mavericks lost the game 130-122 but came back to take Game 4 with a 135-133 victory over the Clippers, courtesy of a buzzer-beater by Doncic on Sunday.
But it was all Los Angeles on Tuesday as the Clippers dominated the Mavs 154-111.
Game 6 is scheduled for Thursday as the Mavericks try to avoid elimination with the Clippers ahead in the series 3-2.
