Boston Celtics: Can Marcus Morris Keep it Up?

Marcus Morris is looking like the best offensive player on the Boston Celtics right now, but can he keep it up once everyone is healthy?

The Boston Celtics are on their most unlikely streak of the season right now, with two of the most unlikely victories of the season against the Thunder and Trail Blazers. They are keeping it close and then pulling off their late game heroics, with fourth quarter comebacks, including one that hasn’t been done in over 5000 attempts.

Marcus Morris and Jayson Tatum are leading them in a way that very few thought possible, but it is certainly not on their own. Everyone seeing the court is contributing, and these reserves all look like capable starters.

That being said, Morris is separating himself and has taken on the most responsibility with these injuries, especially on the offensive end. Morris has been the top scoring option, he has been creating every time he touches the ball, and he is winning games in the clutch.

Nobody really expected Morris to have the kind of opportunity with all the injuries on the Celtics, and he is truly shattering any expectations of his impact. Morris is proving that he can be a primary scoring option, and will not disrupt the overall unit with some of his ball stopping.

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Morris is always looking to shoot and never hesitates, but he still manages to stay in rhythm with all the great ball movement. A lot of people wondered if Morris’ style would be able to fit with Stevens. Right now, his usage rate could not go higher, and the offense is functioning well despite their top two scorers being down.

Morris is doing special things right now, and after a 30 point game in a thrilling comeback victory against the Blazers, a lot of people will wonder whether or not this is sustainable, and there are two stages to that question.

First, you must ask if Morris can keep this up while the injuries are bad. The more important question is whether or not he can be able to keep up this scoring come playoff time, when they get some of these options back at 100 percent.

As long as Kyrie Irving is out, the volume is going to be sustainable. Even if Jaylen Brown comes back, no one else on the team has a score first mentality like Morris, and he has proven he can sustain decent percentages despite having to take a lot of difficult shots.

It may not be on a nightly basis, but Morris has to be considered as the primary scoring option as long as Irving is out, and Brad Stevens will be able to trust that he can consistently break that 20 point barrier, and always be in a position to break out like he did against the Blazers.

Morris has quickly become extremely trusted, and his ceiling on this team has skyrocketed with these injuries. The problem is that the volume will only be sustainable as long as the top two options are sidelined. Morris is taking and making the kind of shots he is confident that he can make, and it is not as if he is doing things that should be out of his reach. Right now, he is getting as many of those shots as he wants, and the results are speaking for themselves.

What he can sustain when everyone is back, however, is the impact when he is on the court. Morris is not changing the way he wants to play, and he takes the same mentality every time he touches the ball and is on the court.

If the Celtics get Irving and Brown back, he will not have much time on the court and the usage will go down, but Stevens will not change any part of what he is doing when he is on there now. His impact has been incredible, and he should be doing the same things come playoff time, no matter who is in the lineup.

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Morris will not play as much, but he has been good enough that he has to be there for the most important moments, and that is when he has been at his absolute best. Who knows what happens to the starting lineup when everyone is back, but Morris is one of the most important offensive players on this team, and he is showing everyone that he is going to be a difference maker no matter who the Celtics have available to play.