Boston Celtics player report card 2017-18: Marcus Morris

Marcus Morris turned out to be much more than the “inside presence” he was expected to be when the Boston Celtics acquired him last summer.

A knock over the past few seasons against the Boston Celtics was the lack of a big man. Whether it was a player who could clog the lane or one who could consistently score, the “big man” was a role the Celtics needed to improve on.

The acquisitions of Aron Baynes via free agency and Marcus Morris via a trade for Avery Bradley gave Boston a couple of guys who were expected to provide relief in the key.

Morris may not be Hakeem Olajuwon or Artis Gilmore when it comes to blocking shots, but he provided a steady hand on defense. Morris helped the Celtics hold opponents to 100.4 points per game, third in the league. Boston also was best at limiting opponents three-point shooting, holding them to a 33.9 percent clip.

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His defense certainly helped, but it was for his skills on offense in which Morris came to be noted for. Morris gave Boston a player who could post-up and stretch the floor. In today’s NBA, the more players on your team who have this ability, the better.

Morris may have missed the first eight games — and another 11 in December — but he found his moments in both the regular season and playoffs as both a starter and bench-player.

Overall, in his seventh-season out of Kansas, Morris finished averaging 13.6 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. He shot 42.9 percent from the field and connected on 36.8 percent of his three-point attempts.

Season highlights and a playoff push

Morris played in 54 regular season games for the Celtics, missing a majority of his missed games before the calendar turned to 2018.

In his sixth game in Boston green, Morris showed fans what we might expect of him as the season progressed. Morris dropped a double-double, 21 points and 10 rebounds, against the Brooklyn Nets.

While he had intermittent solid games over the next few months, it wasn’t really until the month of March he got going. Twice in March Morris hit the 30-point barrier. He had 31 points and 9 rebounds in a loss to the Washington Wizards.

Later in the month, Morris scored 30 in a victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. He would finish the month averaging 18.9 points per game.

Scoring dipped for Morris once the playoffs rolled around, averaging only 12.4 points on 36.8 percent shooting. He was fairly consistent in his scoring, notching double figures in 15 of the 19 games.

There were times Morris struggled with his shooting in the playoffs, but his defense was to be appreciated. Morris helped shut down Ben Simmons and gave LeBron James all he could handle Game 1 against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

That may have been the pinnacle of the series for Morris on defense against James and the Cavs. Morris, however frustrated fans might have been with his shooting in the Eastern Conference Finals, connected on 13-28 (46.4 percent) from three-point range. And he dropped two double-doubles (Games 1 and 7).

Final grade

Marcus Morris: B

Morris missed nearly one-third of the season, but was on the court down the stretch, when the team needed him most. He did what was expected of him (and more). Along with Al Horford, Morris provided veteran leadership to this team.

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There were certainly moments of frustration with Morris during the playoffs. The Celtics may have come up short in their ultimate goal, but Morris was a main reason they made it that far to begin with.

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