Markieff Morris’ suffered a severe ankle sprain when he landed on Al Horford’s foot in Game 1. His status for the Game 2 and the rest of the series remains in doubt. Because of Washington’s limited depth, Morris’ absence could be a serious blow to the Wizards’ chances of winning the series.
Most logical basketball fans view the play as an unfortunate accident. But some in Washington are calling out Horford, citing his “checkered history”:
Before it was known that John Wall would miss the next three games of a series with the Atlanta Hawks with a broken hand and wrist, Bradley Beal was the bigger concern. He was in tears holding his right ankle because then-Hawks center Al Horford committed a cardinal sin in basketball against him that he repeated Sunday vs. Markieff Morris.
Horford, a 6-10 center for the Hawks, ran out on Beal and didn’t give him room to land so he came down on his foot. Now with the Boston Celtics, Horford made Morris, who thought he’d broken his left ankle because of how badly it twisted, a victim of the same type of play.
“Not sure it its intentional or not,” Morris said in the locker room afterwards. Probably not.”
[…]Game 2 is Tuesday, but someone is going to have to talk to Horford about giving the shooter room to land. He doesn’t have the reputation of being a dirty player, but it’s a dangerous play that can turn a series.
Two incidents in two years = checkered history? Even Donald Trump would consider that statement a preposterous stretch.
To be fair, Horford is committing a foul here because the NBA requires defensive players give shooters space to land. But I’m willing to bet a year of my alimony payments that this was not an intentional move by Horford. Cheap shots are not part of his repertoire.
Back in December, Zach Lowe actually commended Horford for his athletic close-outs:
Horford is rejecting 2.6 shots per game, double his career average, and he’s been unnerving jump-shooters with mad dash full-extension close-outs.
Normally, only Anthony Davis-level super-athletes emerge from that far away to get a fingertip on long jumpers.
Horford has a knack for caulking gaps, and he’s so adaptable, he can stretch different parts of his game (except rebounding, natch) depending on roster needs.
I know Wizards fans don’t want to hear this right now, but players have been injured stepping on other players feet since the game was invented.
The headline to this story really pisses me off because it insinuates that Horford is out to hurt people. I don’t give a damn about that line in the final paragraph that says Al doesn’t have a dirty reputation. Most people will only read the headline and never reach that part of the story.
Horford has 4 flagrant fouls, 15 techs and 1 ejection in 9 seasons. Morris has 9 flagrant fouls, 55 techs and 8 ejections in 7 seasons. Who’s the dirty player again?
(h/t David for Zach Lowe column)
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