Marcus Morris says refs are targeting him after Game 3 tech
Boston Celtics forward Marcus Morris appears resigned to facing subtle retaliation from the referees, especially after irking some corners of NBA officialdom last month when he slapped a ref's posterior upon his ejection from a game.
In Game 3, Morris added to his collection of technical fouls, apparently for comments made to opposing big man Thon Maker at the free-throw line.
"I can't even speak on it, man," Morris said after the game, according to ESPN's Chris Forsberg. "It's been the same s--- all year. I'm expecting it. They knew what they wanted before the game started. They knew who they wanted to go after. So that's on (the referees)."
Morris has built a resume of occasionally erratic behavior that has not gone overlooked by the officials. With 11 technical fouls in the regular season, he was tied with Chris Paul and Robin Lopez for the seventh-most in the league (Morris' twin brother Markieff edged them out for sole possession of sixth place with 13 techs).
But the numbers show Morris hasn't appeared to be directly targeted by the referees' whistles so far this postseason - at least, no more so than anyone else.
In fact, beyond the one technical foul, the overall foul situation has favored the Celtics through three games, and Morris' personal foul tally isn't that far off his regular-season rate of 1.9 per game:
| FOULS | Bucks | Celtics | Morris |
|---|---|---|---|
| Game 1 | 31 | 21 | 4 |
| Game 2 | 18 | 16 | 1 |
| Game 3 | 27 | 15 | 3 |
| Total | 76 | 52 | 8 |
Furthermore, in addition to Morris, 16 players around the league have exactly one technical foul in the playoffs, including Celtics teammate Terry Rozier and two Bucks, Maker and Eric Bledsoe.
With the series now sitting at 2-1 in favor of the short-handed Celtics, aggressive play from both teams should be expected - though it won't prevent players from feeling it's them against the world.
"They're definitely tough there," All-Star center Al Horford said of the officials, echoing his teammate's ire. "I can't say much else. I don't want to give away money. If I'm going to give away money, I want to give it to charity. I don't want to give the league money, so we'll leave it at that."