Washington Wizards forward Markieff Morris was extremely instrumental in helping his team advance into Round 2, but he only played 13 minutes Sunday after suffering an ankle injury against the Boston Celtics.
With Morris in the game, Washington got off to a hot start, going up by 14 points in the first quarter. However, the Wizards fell apart defensively without the big man in the lineup. As a result, they ended up losing Game 1, 123-111.
Not surprisingly, Morris is optimistic he’ll return for Game 2, which takes place on Tuesday. He told reporters, via ESPN’s Jeff Goodman, that he will “definitely” play in that game, though it’s worth pointing out he might be more optimistic than the team’s training staff.
A big reason for making that statement is that Morris himself said it was the worst ankle injury he’s ever suffered and thought at first it might have been broken.
Morris said it was the worst ankle sprain he's ever suffered. Thought initially he broke it.
— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc) April 30, 2017
With that in mind, the Wizards might need to figure out how to play defense without Morris, at least for another game if not a few more.