Markieef Morris rolls ankle, questionable to return

Washington Wizards’ forward Markieff Morris is questionable to return to Sunday’s Game 1 against the Celtics, after he rolled his left ankle.

Wizards’ forward Markieff Morris is questionable to return to Sunday’s game against the Boston Celtics, after rolling his left ankle and going down in pain.

Morris rolled his ankle when he was attempting a jump shot, and was fouled by Celtics’ center Al Horford. Morris immediately hit the ground and looked to be in serious pain. He stayed in the game to shoot his two free throws, before he exited and went to the locker room. An update on the severity of the injury has not yet been revealed.

Before Morris exited the game, he had scored 5 points, grabbed 3 rebounds, and blocked a shot. In the six games the Wizards played against the Atlanta Hawks in their previous playoff series, Morris averaged 11.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game. Losing Morris for an extended amount of time will hinder Washington’s chances in getting passed the Celtics, as they need his size and versatility in their lineup. With him out of the game it will be much easier for the Celtics to hide the defensively-challenged Isaiah Thomas.

The Celtics run several lineups with big men who have good shooting ability such as Horford and Kelly Olynyk, and Morris will be needed to help neutralize them on the defensive end. Wizards guards John Wall and Bradley Beal have already been carrying the load on offense before Morris went down, but it seems as if they might need to do even more to will their team to victory.

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The Wizards may opt to play it safe and hold Morris out for the rest of the game, then reevaluate him in the coming days to see if his ankle injury subsides.