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Posted on Thu, Jan 12, 2012 : 2:43 p.m.

Darius Morris makes official NBA debut, could be seeing more time soon

By Nick Baumgardner

Former Michigan basketball point guard Darius Morris made his NBA debut Wednesday for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Morris came off the bench for the first time during the regular season, scoring four points, handing out two assists and grabbing a rebound in 13 minutes as the Lakers topped the Utah Jazz in overtime, 90-87.

It didn't take Morris long to make an impact, either. As he found Metta World Peace (formerly Ron Artest) for a jam just 14 seconds after checking in, netting him his first official NBA statistic.

"I had just checked in, I was on defense just focusing on a defensive assignment then, boom, it happened and it kind of got me comfortable because Metta finished with a great dunk and just really got our second unit energized an also our whole team," Morris told ESPN.com.

The 6-foot-4 point guard, who set a Michigan single-season assist record as a sophomore last season, had not played in Los Angeles' previous 11 games, as the bulk of L.A.'s point guard minutes have gone to veterans Derek Fisher and Steve Blake.

That could soon change. Blake is listed as day-to-day on the team's injury report after re-aggrevating a rib injury in the victory against Utah.

Nick Baumgardner covers Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at 734-623-2514, by email at nickbaumgardner@annarbor.com and followed on Twitter @nickbaumgardner.

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Comments

Mike D

Fri, Jan 13, 2012 : 3:21 p.m.

I wish all the best for Darius, however although I do not know of his particular situation, I believe that he could have improved his play with another year at Michigan. Don't get be wrong, he is an outstanding player, but needed to work on parts of his game to be in it for the long haul.