After a month from playing his last game, Marcus Morris is back in the starting lineup. Morris took a month away from playing as he focused on conditioning his knee to be his complete self again. The Clippers’ power forward depth took a major hit as of late. Nicolas Batum entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols and Justise Winslow was away from the team for personal reasons. The depleted depth resulted in two-way forward Amir Coffey playing meaningful minutes for the first time this season. Coffey provided solid energy for the team, competing on both ends of the floor. However, Morris’ return gives the Clippers a much-needed boost on both ends of the floor and inches the team closer to its full potential.
Marcus Morris is Back, What it Means for the Clippers
1. Another Scorer
The Clippers desperately needed to add more scoring to the lineup. Reggie Jackson is the team’s second-leading scorer, averaging 18.1 points per game. However, he is shooting a lackluster 40.3% from the field and 34.6% from three. Jackson’s high volume variability as a scorer puts pressure on the rest of the Clippers’ offense to fill it up when he is not efficient.
Adding Morris back provides another option for the team to get a bucket. Morris is coming off the best three-point shooting season of his career in which he shot 47.3% from downtown. The spacing uplifts the offense as defenses cannot help too much off of him. As a result, this creates open lanes for drives and cuts.
Additionally, the return of Morris provides another isolation scorer that can get his own shot. In the past, the Clippers ran isolation sets for him in which he caught on the elbow or mid-post. In these sets, Morris operates in a Carmelo Anthony–like role where he goes 1-on-1 with his defender in space. Morris has shown the ability to shoot over defenders with hands in his face. The team will need his creation in order to alleviate Paul George‘s heavy offensive load.
2. Power Forward Depth
This past week, Batum entered health and safety protocols and Winslow was away from the team. Their absences led to Coffey’s increased playing time in the rotation and a lack of a backup power forward. Though Coffey’s play is not detrimental to the team, Morris’ return will benefit the offensive end much more.
With Batum out for the next few games, the Clippers need to lean on Morris, Coffey, and Winslow to carry the burden at that position. The power forward spot on this team is more so a utility as those in the position are asked to shoot the three, defend multiple positions, and move the ball within the offense. No one does those things better than Batum. With him sidelined, the rest of the forwards need to pick up the slack. Morris’ offensive arsenal gives him some leeway to lean more into the offensive role, but he is needed to do the other small things for the team.
Winslow and Coffey have not had consistent production, but both play hard and compete on both ends. Their offensive abilities are their weaker points, so look for Morris to produce on that end in lieu of their efforts.
3. Small-Ball Flexibility
Morris’s ability to play the center for the Clippers gives Ty Lue another lineup and flexibility for their defense. When teams become fixated on attacking the Clippers’ centers, Lue counters by going small. Morris and Batum are the two major players that allow this strategy to work as both have size at their position and can switch on multiple positions.
The ability to switch everything alleviates the strain of fighting through screens and makes it easier to blow the opposition’s offensive sets. As a result, this type of defense leads to more isolation basketball and less movement. This strategy was a major contributor to the Clippers’ playoff success as they used small-ball lineups to get back in the Dallas series and stretch out Utah’s defense. The lineup also forces the opposition’s big men into uncomfortable situations by defending smaller perimeter players. Strategies like this can be beneficial, as the Clippers saw when Rudy Gobert was compromised when trying to protect the rim and defend a wing.
With Morris back to defend bigs and switch, in addition to his ability to score the basketball, the Clippers are one step closer to realizing their potential as a legitimate contender, once Kawhi Leonard returns.
Marcus Morris is Back, and the Clippers can’t be happier
The return of Morris could not have come at a better time, given the Clippers’ lack of power forwards and scoring. Though his knee is a concern, as long as he is able to play pain-free and moves well, his production will pay dividends in the Clippers’ pursuit of a championship.
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