Marcus Morris and Doc Rivers believe Porzingis shouldn't have been ejected
The Clippers defeated the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1, but the bigger story seems to be Kristaps Porzingis getting ejected in the third quarter.
Porzingis was involved in an altercation with Marcus Morris over protecting Luka Doncic, which ultimately resulted in a double technical for Morris and Porzingis. Unfortunately for the big man, he already had a technical foul from earlier.
Marcus Morris, who was at the center of the action, didn't believe technical fouls were necessary.
"I didn't think it was enough to get technical fouls," Morris said. "I wish that Porzinigis played. It's playoffs man."
Doc Rivers echoed the same sentiments as Marcus Morris. "I don't like him being out," Rivers said. "I hate that."
Needless to say, the entire Dallas Mavericks roster believes Porzingis shouldn't have been ejected, starting with Luka Doncic.
"KP had my back," Doncic said. "Not just me, the whole team appreciated that. I don’t think it was fair to throw him out of the game, especially in the playoffs.”
For Porzingis, he was simply trying to defend his superstar teammate, Luka Doncic. Porzingis didn't like seeing Morris get into the face of Doncic, and stepped up. He didn't believe an ejection was necessary at all.
"I understand we got into it a little bit," Porzingis said. "I saw him getting into Luka's face and I didn't like that, that's why I reacted. That's a smart thing to do from their part. I just gotta be smarter and control my emotions next time. Especially on the first one, I understand the second one."
Porzingis' ejection was incredibly unfortunate for the Dallas Mavericks. For many, he's their x-factor in the series. He had 14 points and 6 rebounds in 19 minutes for the team, and looked to do even more damage. Without him, Doncic was left to succeed alone, and he almost did.
The referees were calling the game incredibly tight from start to finish. Both Paul George and Porzingis received early technicals for a fist-pumping motion, and players were in early foul trouble. At the end of the day though, no one from either side believed Porzingis should have been ejected.
