Marcus Morris is determined to bring some tenacity back to a moribund Knicks team that still lacks much by way of high-end talent, but could make up some of the difference by playing coherent basketball for the first time in years. Morris got a good start on establishing a certain toughness for this team Monday night when he randomly picked a fight with a replacement-grade Wizards player, in a preseason game, and earned an early trip to the showers.
This is becoming an annual tradition for the Morris twins, who are without question two of the orneriest players in the NBA. Marcus, in his first season with the Knicks, appeared to take offense to the on-ball defense being played by Justin Anderson, in his first season with the Wizards. Morris first tried to brush Anderson back with a vicious elbow; when that failed—and went unpenalized—Morris resorted to rudely smashing the basketball off of Anderson’s cranium. A punchless NBA-style hullabaloo ensued.