LA Clippers: Team needs Marcus Morris Sr. healthy to get back into WCF

The first two games of this LA Clippers vs. Phoenix Suns series have been about as close as they can be.

The Clips haven’t had Kawhi Leonard, and the Suns are missing Chris Paul. Both great coaches in this series have put their talents on display, and the Suns ended up getting the best of the Clippers in both games.

The Clippers have been down 2-0 in both series of this year’s NBA postseason, so they’re used to overcoming adversity. That being said, there’s one Clipper who hasn’t been right this series, and who would change the series if he could get healthy soon.

A healthy Marcus Morris Sr. would give the LA Clippers a lot more much-needed offensive production.

Marcus Morris Sr. is a good defensive player. One of the more underrated storylines of this series was set to be the battle between the two tough guys on each team; Morris and Jae Crowder.

Both play scrappy, tough defense, and can be major threats on offense when they’re playing to their potential.

Morris can shoot the lights out when he’s playing to his potential. Heck, he posted the second-highest three-point percentage in the NBA this year (.473).

In the first two games of this series, Morris hasn’t been right health-wise. Ty Lue even had to pull him out of the game a bit early due to him not being able to move like himself in Game 2. Luke Kennard played pretty well in his place offensively, but Morris is the more complete offensive player when healthy.

Morris has only been able to go for about 46 minutes this series, scoring 13 total points. He’s made just one of seven threes, and he’s nailed just 6 field goals in general out of 22 attempts.

The Clippers have been ravaged by injuries this year, and their ‘no excuses,’ ‘next man up’ mentality has helped them overcome the adversity.

It’s not that I don’t believe in Kennard, or any player who’s going to get more minutes with Morris out. It’s just that a healthy Morris would have ran away with the tough guy battle between he and Crowder in Game 2.

Crowder didn’t make a single field goal and had just two total points on Tuesday. In games between Morris and Crowder, historically, Morris has outscored Crowder, averaging 10.6 points per game to Crowder’s 9.2.

A hobbled Morris out-rebounded Crowder five to four, and Morris (despite playing just 25 minutes) recorded a block when Crowder didn’t in 33 minutes. Morris averages more blocks vs. Crowder in games against each other, and even did it last night when he wasn’t even 100%.

He outscored him by five points when he wasn’t even 100%.

The game could have gone much differently if Morris was able to play more minutes.

The Clippers can still win this series, especially if Kawhi comes back from injury. A healthy Morris could go a long way, however, regardless.