Marcus Morris says he's 'probably the best' in NBA defending LeBron James besides Kawhi Leonard

Jason Owens
·Staff writer

On Friday, the Boston Celtics tweeted an article touting forward Marcus Morris as the guy to slow down LeBron James in the Eastern Conference finals.

Presumably thinking better of giving James any extra motivation during his dominant playoff run, the Celtics later deleted the tweet.

The article is also nowhere to be found.

Marcus Morris like his chances defending LeBron James

Morris apparently didn’t get the memo to lay low on all of the James-stopper talk and doubled down when talking with the media on Saturday.

“Personally, I think I’m probably the best guy defending him in the league, outside of Kawhi [Leonard],” Morris told reporters.

Marcus Morris told reporters on Saturday that there is only one other player in the NBA who can defend LeBron James as well as he does. (AP)
Marcus Morris told reporters on Saturday that there is only one other player in the NBA who can defend LeBron James as well as he does. (AP)

Morris has seen James in the playoffs before

The response was prompted by a question about Morris guarding James in a playoff series in 2016 between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons.

During that series, James averaged 22.8 points, nine rebounds and 6.8 assists per game. Those are extraordinary numbers, obviously, but come up short in the scoring column of James’ career playoff averages of 28.7 points, 8.9 rebounds and seven assists per game.

Of course, the Cavs swept the Pistons en route to an NBA championship, so any talk of Morris making a significant defensive impact in the series is silly.

“That series, it was fun. It was my first time being in the playoffs, being able to go against obviously one of the best players in the league, if not the best,” Morris said. “It was definitely a good time, “Circumstances are a little different now. I’m a little older, a little bit more experienced.”

With James averaging an astounding 34.3 points, 9.4 rebounds and nine assists with a 55.3 field goal percentage while carrying the Cavs through these playoffs, Morris will more than have his work cut out for him.

When it comes to crunch time, Celtics coach Brad Stevens is likely to take some lessons from the Cavs’ sweep of the Toronto Raptors and put an extra body on James.

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