TITLE: Marcus Morris faults Cavaliers’ stars for Game 1 collapse, cites “lack of leadership”
SLUG: marcus-morris-faults-cavaliers-stars-for-game-1-collapse
CONTENT:
Former NBA forward Marcus Morris placed the blame for the Cleveland Cavaliers’ late-game breakdown against the New York Knicks squarely on the team’s top players, not on head coach Kenny Atkinson.
Speaking with Yahoo Sports after Cleveland squandered a 22-point fourth-quarter cushion in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, Morris said the Cavaliers’ failure traced back to a shortage of vocal direction from Donovan Mitchell and James Harden.
“Two things I see with Cleveland: they don’t really have strong player leadership,” Morris told the outlet. “If you look at a James Harden team or a Donovan Mitchell team, they’ve always had a guy on the bench who was the vocal leader. When you call a timeout, you see that guy showing passion and keeping the team together.”
Cleveland led by 22 with fewer than eight minutes remaining before falling apart, a sequence Morris said should have been halted by the team’s stars.
“You have two guys that are going to be Hall of Famers,” he said. “Up 22, then it’s down to 15, now it’s down to 10—those two have to settle the team down, get quality shots and make sure every possession counts.”
Morris, who concluded a 13-year NBA career with the Cavaliers in the 2023-24 season, reiterated that coaching was not the decisive factor.
“As players we can say, ‘The coach could’ve called better plays,’ but if I’ve got Donovan Mitchell and James Harden with a 20-point lead, I feel great about that,” he added. “Our two stars have to take ownership and say, ‘This was our fault. We can’t allow our team to crumble like that in the Eastern Conference finals.’”
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is scheduled for Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.
Source: Hoops Wire
