The Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Clippers will meet in the first round of the NBA Playoffs for the second year in a row. That also means that the personal rivalry between Luka Doncic and Marcus Morris is set to be rekindled.
Morris faced accusations of targeting Doncic after the Los Angeles Clippers forward stepped on Doncic’s injured left ankle, with some believing it was done intentionally. This sparked an extensive rivalry for the rest of the series, with Morris being ejected from the ensuing Game 6 for a hard foul on Doncic.
The two are now set to renew acquaintances in this year’s first round, and perhaps surprisingly, Doncic said he’s looking forward to seeing Morris again.
Luka Doncic eagerly anticipates more heated competition with Marcus Morris Sr. in this series: "He's a hell of a player, hell of a defender. Trash talk is always there, and if it’s not, you’re not really competing. It’s going to be great." https://t.co/4FFg3fS1x6
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) May 17, 2021
Doncic added that Morris apologized to him earlier this season for the play that sparked the rivalry, and the Mavericks star seemed eager to put that incident behind him.
Regardless of that, things got quite heated and personal between these two, and in the grand scheme of things, it really wasn’t that long ago. It certainly creates the potential for an even more interesting series than it already was set up to be.
