Wizards' Markieff Morris has huge postseason debut in Game 1 vs. Hawks

WASHINGTON — If you didn't know that Markieff Morris was playing in the first postseason game of his career on Sunday afternoon at the Verizon Center, you wouldn't have believed it.

The power forward, who was traded to Washington last February after 4½ seasons with the Phoenix Suns, played a pivotal role in the Wizards' 114-107 Game 1 win over the Atlanta Hawks, finishing with 21 points, seven rebounds, four blocks, two assists and a steal.

But his contributions went well beyond the stat sheet.

Of his many game-changing moments, Morris' most memorable sequence came midway through the third quarter, when he threw down a ferocious dunk over Hawks guard Tim Hardaway Jr., putting Washington up 10 and further shifting the momentum in their favor. On the next possession, after a layup from the Hawks' Paul Millsap, Morris hammered home another dunk — this one over Millsap — off an alley-oop pass from Wall.

Morris scored 11 of his 21 points in the third quarter, but more importantly, he helped put Washington in the driver's seat, adding to a lead they would never relinquish.

Morris came up big on the defensive end throughout the game, too, pestering Millsap — Atlanta's best player and a four-time All-Star — possession after possession, limiting him to 19 points (on eight shots) and just two rebounds.

"(Morris) was more physical than me tonight, and if that's how we're going to play, that's how we're going to play," Millsap, who was critical of Washington's physicality, said after the game.

Wall, who had a monster third quarter of his own, scoring 15 of his game-high 32 points, praised Morris for making his presence felt in his playoff debut.

"Kieff came out being aggressive for us in the third quarter got us going. ... He has never been to the playoffs before. He shied away from getting a lot of shots at times, but he's doing everything to help our team win," Wall said. "When he's playing as well as he did today for us, we're unstoppable."

Wizards coach Scott Brooks expressed similar sentiments.

"I thought he played with force all game long. I thought he was a big part of our win," Brooks said. "He was aggressive, setting great screens, and our playmakers were finding him open shots.

"We've been telling him the second half of the season he's not going to get open unless he creates opportunities to get open. I thought he's been doing that the last couple of games of the season when he played. (Today) he played well, made shots."

As far as Morris is concerned, it was just another day at the office.

"We got the win, so that's what was most important," Morris said. "The intensity was sky-high the whole game. John (Wall) told me before the game that it was going to be like that. So we just had to raise our play and play as hard as possible every play. ...

"I'm always a relaxed guy, so it's just playing in the moment, staying in the moment, and giving everything I've got until the clock hits zero."

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