CLEVELAND — Marcus Morris Sr. hoped to establish a no-dunk rule on behalf of the Cavaliers .
In the process, the longtime NBA forward woke up the entire team.
With 6:34 left in the second quarter Monday night, Morris was ejected for striking the jaw and neck of Charlotte Hornets center Nick Richards with his right forearm and elbow. Morris' foul was upgraded to a Flagrant-2 during a replay review. It meant he was done for the night.
At the time, the score was tied 27-27. The Cavs then rallied to lead by 14 points at halftime and ultimately prevailed 115-92 over the Hornets at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Afterward, coach J.B. Bickerstaff said the "old-school mentality" of Morris "brought energy" to the Cavs (44-28). The veteran's teammates also identified his hard foul and ejection as a turning point. By defeating the Hornets (17-54), the Cavs snapped a three-game losing streak.
"Like I told [Richards], I wasn't trying to hurt him," Morris said. "I'm just being physical. The last couple games, I laid another couple players out. It just didn't go the same way. So I'm just trying to set the tone, man. You're rolling down the paint, catching lobs and we're trying to stop that type of s***.
"I'm trying to implement that no-dunk rule and all that type of s*** because going forward, we're going to need that. It's a lot of bigs in the East and a lot of tough guys and a lot of tough games coming up. So I just want to just keep showing it, man."
Morris, 34, signed a 10-day contract with the Cavs last week. He entered the league in 2011 as a first-round draft pick (14th overall) of the Houston Rockets , so he has been around the game a long time and engaged in many battles.
Morris fouled Richards in the paint while forward Brandon Miller drove near the free-throw line.
"He wanted to make sure that people know it's not going to be easy rolling into the paint, that nothing's going to be free," Cavs center Jarrett Allen said. "We responded to that just going forward. We need that enforcer-type guy."
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After the officiating crew tossed Morris out of the game, he took shots on the practice court and watched the action from the locker room. He scored three points in eight minutes off the bench. In his previous four Cavs games, he scored 14, four, 11 and seven points.
"I never really want to get ejected from a game," Morris said. "I still want to help my team, but I'm just happy we responded really well. And then going forward, man, like I told the team, each of these games got to be treated like the playoffs. So if I got to lay somebody out every game, and we're going to respond like that, then so be it."
With 10 regular-season games left, the Cavs are third in the Eastern Conference's tight standings. They clearly believe they could benefit from embracing the rugged mindset Morris embodies.
"We are not just about to have anybody coming in here doing what they want to do," Morris said. "So that was just my point. It was just kind of like a message. ... Like I said, I wanted to play the game. I didn't want to get thrown out. I definitely wanted to put a little lick on him.
"That's just who I am. I mean, the league knows. Players know. ... So it's like I have to bring that type of s***. It's just in me."
A year after the Cavs were outmuscled during the playoffs en route to a 4-1 first-round series loss against the New York Knicks , the edge Morris provides is welcomed by his new team in Cleveland .
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Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich .
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Marcus Morris ejection on flagrant foul sparks Cavs' win over Hornets
