NBA Twitter believes Marcus Morris intentionally stepped on Luka Doncic's injured ankle

Zac Al-Khateeb

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NBA Twitter believes Marcus Morris intentionally stepped on Luka Doncic's injured ankle image

Marcus Morris added a layer of controversy to the Clippers' 154-111 win on Tuesday, whether he intended to or not.

In the third quarter of Los Angeles' Game 5 victory against the Mavericks — and with his team already holding a sizable lead — Morris stepped on the sprained left ankle of Luka Doncic, igniting Twitter tirades in the process.

Here are multiple angles of the incident in question, which came just after the start of the second half and with the Clippers holding an 81-52 lead.

INJURY UPDATE: Damian Lillard out for Game 5 with right knee sprain

Doncic left Game 3 of the first-round series and was a game-time decision to play in Game 4 on Sunday. He helped Dallas overcome a 20-point deficit in a 135-133 win to even the series at 2-2, putting up 43 points, 17 rebounds and 13 assists.

After the game, Morris denied that he went after Doncic, saying he plays basketball "with a level of respect for myself and other players."

It's tough to say definitively that he targeted Doncic's ankle. But his own history of overly aggressive plays has certainly done him no favors among doubters, of which there are many on Twitter.

Here are some of the more incendiary social media reactions to the incident:

Zac Al-Khateeb

Zac Al-Khateeb Photo

Zac Al-Khateeb has been part of The Sporting News team since 2015 after earning his Bachelor's (2013) and Master's (2014) degrees in journalism at the University of Alabama. Prior to joining TSN, he covered high school sports and general news in Alabama. A college sports specialist, Zac has been a voter for the Biletnikoff Award and Heisman Trophy since 2020.