Knicks' Marcus Morris scores season-high 29 points against former team in loss to Celtics

Morris led the charge in fourth quarter

11/2/2019, 3:30 AM
Nov 1, 2019; Boston, MA, USA; New York Knicks forward Marcus Morris Sr. (13) controls the ball while Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart (36) defends during the first half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports / Bob DeChiara
Nov 1, 2019; Boston, MA, USA; New York Knicks forward Marcus Morris Sr. (13) controls the ball while Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart (36) defends during the first half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports / Bob DeChiara

Marcus Morris had a big night for the Knicks on Friday against his former team. 

The Celtics came away with a 104-102 victory, but Morris did all he could to keep the Knicks in the game, dropping a season-high 29 points while knocking down five of his eight three-point attempts. 

He also came up huge for the Knicks in the fourth quarter, dropping 15 points in the fourth quarter alone, including a three-pointer to tie the game with 4.7 seconds left.

 

But in the game's final seconds, it was one of Morris' old teammates, Jayson Tatum, who drilled the game-winner with under two seconds left on the clock.

"We've been talking about this moment for a while, and I told him when I come back here, if I do, we're gonna go at it. He's going to be a great player in this league for a while, and I'm happy to be part of his career so far," said Morris.

"Good shot, man, he's a good player. Contested two. Brad (Stevens) drew up a great play and he made it. It's good to see him get his first one. I wish it could have been against someone else, but hey it's the NBA."

Morris had developed a friendship with Tatum during their two seasons together in Boston, and on Friday he saw the rising start knock down the game-winner.

"I told him when I was here that there are only two people in the league who can guard him, and I'm one of them and the other is my brother," Morris said with a smile.

With the loss, the Knicks have now fallen to 1-5 to start the season, and while it's not the start anyone around the team had in mind, Morris says he sees signs of being able to turn things around.

"We're not turning the ball over as much. We're playing well on defense," Morris said. "We're trending in the right direction. It's just unfortunate that we've been in some close ones, but the beauty of it all is that it's still early and possibly it will start going our way towards the end. We're going to continue to fight, we're going to continue to play hard, but like I said, we're going to battle.

"I thought we played really well. … We've been defending, we've been getting offensive rebounds … Just a couple of bounces didn't go our way, a couple of calls didn't go our way, but I'm happy that it's doing that early, and hopefully we can turn it around." 

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