[ad_1]
Markieff Morris finally appeared in the second round helping the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Houston Rockets.
When the Los Angeles Clippers traded for New York Knicks top player Marcus Morris at the deadline, the Los Angeles Lakers scrambled to get their twin brother Markieff on the acquisition market, hoping to add a similar contributor to his playoff career.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have much time to bond with his new teammates, as the season was closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. When he rebooted in the bubble, Morris was the last to rejoin the team and did not get a lot of playing time in seeding games to acclimate to the new environment, new team and resumption of activity.
In the first round against the Portland Trail Blazers, he was somewhat disappointing, getting a stable playing time but not giving up.
He was an enforcer from the bench, useful in fighting Portland’s front line, counting Jusuf Nurkic and Hassan Whiteside in his range, but failed to really make an impact on the series. This certainly wasn’t all on his own, given the forced hiatus and limited time he had to get back into the game, basically with a new team.
But in the second round, Markieff managed to turn things around. After a disappointing loss in Game 1, his playing time increased for the remainder of the series and this time he did not fail to deliver. He made a huge contribution in Game 2, scoring 16 points on 4 of 5 out of three. His light shot ignited the Lakers’ opening lead in the first half that basically gave them the win.
From that moment on, he never looked back. Although in Game 3 he had another offensive disappointment, he remained pivotal on the defensive end, finishing the game +10 over / under anyway.
For the next two games, Frank Vogel also moved him to the starting lineup, deciding to go small. In the decisive Game 5 he had another spectacular performance scoring 16 points on 6 of 7 from the field and 4 of 4 from beyond the arc.
From Game 2 to 5, he had a combined +55 over / under, contributing to a sweep with averages of 10.8 points and 4 rebounds, shooting 52.9 percent from three.
Morris really took his game to another level in the second round, showing the player that Rob Pelinka hoped to have signed in February. As the Los Angeles Lakers head to the Conference Finals, it is critical that he continue to play as he has lately.
In all likelihood, they will face the Clippers, and Kieff will find himself in a showdown against his brother Marcus, two similar players (on the court as much as they may sound) who can weigh in on the outcome of the game when he doesn’t expect it. that.
[ad_2]
