Marcus Morris to make season debut against the Thunder Friday

A. Sherrod Blakely reported Friday that Marcus Morris will debut in the Boston Celtics’ road game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Morris missed the first eight games of the season due to knee soreness, and is set to make his debut in a Celtics uniform. A strong and versatile defender himself, Morris will join his teammates that have posted the NBA’s top defensive rating so far this year. The Celtics will also get a nice scoring punch in the front court. Morris has averaged around 14 points per game in each of the last two seasons.

Boston has had success with Al Horford and Aron Baynes in the starting lineup, as well as having rookie Jayson Tatum in the power forward spot too. Morris will provide versatility on both ends to the starting unit if Stevens decides to use him in that setting. It will also be interesting to see Morris’ impact on the second unit with Terry Rozier and Marcus Smart handling most of the playmaking off the bench.

The Celtics and Thunder are scheduled to tip off at 9:30 p.m. EST at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.