Marcus Morris will make his season debut vs. Thunder

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Brad Stevens said before Wednesday's win against the Sacramento Kings that we'll be seeing Marcus Morris in action "sooner rather than later" for the C's. That time is likely to be tonight as the veteran forward is listed as probable for the team ahead of Friday night's ESPN matchup with the star-studded Oklahoma City Thunder and the forward confirmed at Friday's shootaround that he will be in action tonight. He will be on a minutes restriction of 20-22 minutes and come off the bench for the visitors.

"He’s ready to roll," Stevens said at shootaround. "The biggest thing is he’s been antsy to play now for a little bit. We wanted to make sure he was making appropriate strides so that when he does come back we make sure that he’s not going back and forth due to that knee soreness. So hopefully that can be the case. He’ll play tonight and then he’ll play in one of the two. We won’t play him in back-to-backs still, at least not yet."

Morris has missed the first eight games of the regular season for Boston with a sore left knee after the team shut him down towards the end of the preseason to rest the injury and build up his conditioning. The 6-foot-9 forward initially targeted Monday's game against the Spurs as a return date, but the team has been cautious with him as they attempt to get him back in action at close to full strength. He scrimmaged with the Maine Red Claws on Monday at the C's practice facility in Waltham and that took part in a "hard" workout before Wednesday's game against the Spurs as he attempted to ramp up his recovery. 

"I worked the other day just full speed jumping -- a lot of jumping -- cutting, just to see where it's at," Morris said. "I was explosive. It felt really fine to me. I have to get out there and see, but I don't really see much set back. I did 100 percent workout, so it's not like I'm babying it anymore. I can jump really well, and the things I couldn't do three weeks ago, I can do easily now. Mentally, I'm good, so that's where I'm at with it."

The 28-year-old was a projected starter at power forward before the season began, but strong play by Jayson Tatum out of the gate may leave Morris as a bench option for now, particularly when Boston is in the midst of a six-game winning streak.

"Leadership qualities, a lot of toughness, which you guys know," Morris said on what he will bring to the floor upon his return. "Scoring the ball. I think I'm gonna be able to -- I know I'm going to be able to pass better than what a lot of you think I can, probably. It's an open offense, mismatches all over the floor. I'll probably be one of the guys with the biggest mismatch."