Clippings: Families are joining the Clippers for the second round

For the first two months of the bubble, Doc Rivers and Marcus Morris Sr. have had a special perk that no other Clippers were privy to: they could see their family members in the bubble.

Rivers has dropped in on his son Austin’s games, and he got to spend quality time with his son-in-law Seth Curry during the team’s first-round series against Dallas.

Morris has been able to hang out with his twin brother Markieff of the Los Angeles Lakers. Despite playing for rival teams, their sibling bond prevails, and they spend time together whenever possible, as Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register reported.

Markieff and Marcus Morris Sr. wouldn’t do it any other way. They stroll down to Three Bridges Bar and Grill and order bacon and eggs, or sometimes pancakes, every morning their schedules allow. They talk about their business ventures, their foundation — things away from the game.

Now that the Clippers have advanced to the second round, all the players get to invite family into the bubble, but they’re all approaching the situation differently. Morris plans to leave soon for the birth of his second child, so it doesn’t make much sense to invite his family now and force them to quarantine for such a short period of time. Paul George said that he didn’t think his girls would have a good time with such limited entertainment options in the bubble, so he’s only having his partner come to Orlando. JaMychal Green agreed with that sentiment as another father of two young children; as a result, he told the media Tuesday that he decided to wait until the conference finals to bring his family around.

Lou Williams will be welcoming his family this week, including his eight-month old son Syx, who has started taking steps since he last saw his dad. Williams was forthcoming about the challenges he felt being away from his loved ones for so long.

“It was difficult for me, and I took a different approach personally,” Williams said on a Zoom call Tuesday. “I told my girlfriend to kind of relax on the pictures, relax on trying to talk to me as much because you start worrying and you get caught up in that. I just wanted to try to train my mindset to be focused on the moment, focused on the environment that I’m actually in. Now that we’re about 72 hours out from me being able to personally see my family, I can kind of relax and be able to see them and welcome them with open arms and a warm heart.”

Players have been open about the mental health toll of the bubble. Hopefully, this new arrangement helps to ease that burden.

More news for Wednesday:

• The Celtics took a 2-0 lead on the Raptors with a nail-biter of a win. Toronto made it close this time around, but the Raptors will need a better effort from Pascal Siakam if they’re going to challenge Boston going forward.
• Marc Stein shared some of the ins and outs of the bubble.
• Lou Williams said the reports of the Clippers voting to end the season last Wednesday weren’t quite right.
• The Milwaukee Bucks were disappointed that the Wisconsin state legislature convened for less than a minute after the team’s walkout.
• Bucks guard Sterling Brown, whose police brutality case is still open, spoke with The Undefeated about the last week.