The Knicks and Wizards got their preseasons underway in the nation’s capital on Monday night, and while it was far from the marquee matchup of the night (as far as such a thing exists in the preseason), there were plenty of players on both sides looking to prove themselves.
Both teams have serious minutes to hand out and rotations to figure out as they embark on seasons with low expectations. The Wizards, beyond All-Star Bradley Beal, have one of the worst rosters in the league, but for the guys looking to solidify their spot in the NBA, that means opportunity.
In New York, they have a mix of veterans and young players, and it’ll be up to David Fizdale to figure out how to balance playing the vets with getting their young players some much needed burn. The most interesting position battle exists at the forward spot, where they signed a ton of power forwards this offseason and some who have played the four in the past will be pushed to the three, most notably Marcus Morris.
Morris is not a player who needs to prove himself in the preseason and as such he is the type of player that is most likely to get frustrated by try-hard play from the opponent who does. That happened on Monday night when Justin Anderson was hounding him on defense and Morris missed Anderson with a clear out elbow, only to then bonk him on top of the head with the ball to earn an ejection.
Streetball.
Marcus Morris got ejected for purposely hitting Justin Anderson in the head with the ball 😳 pic.twitter.com/mOEDsajWCH
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 8, 2019
The elbow was potentially dangerous, but the hitting Anderson in the head with the ball is kinda funny. Morris and Anderson exchanged words as Morris clearly felt the effort put forth by Anderson was, at best, performative and at worst annoying and unnecessary. Still, it’s not the finest debut of the preseason on a new team from Morris.
