It was one of those, “Do you remember where you were nights?”
The night Memphis superstar point guard Ja Morant scored a career-high and franchise-record 52 points, setting franchise-high-scoring marks in back-to-back games.
This Monday evening had a sense of urgency before the first game-time ball bounced. The Grizzlies (43-20) defeated the San Antonio Spurs (118-105) on the final night that the team was celebrating Black History Month. Add to the mix that the Spurs (24-38) were a whisker away from the post-season, play-in games to get into the Western Conference Playoffs; with Memphis less than two games out of second place.
“Got to be the 50-ball, first in history,” said Morant, responding to a question about the most memorable part of the night for him. “I am not going to lie; I don’t know if I can talk about that right now. My head is all over the place.”
He did talk, saying what Grizz fans pretty much expect of him after roof-raising performances.
“Thankful for my teammates, my coaches; they believe in me, have all the confidence in the world that I can go make the right play, and tonight they were looking for me. As I got close, they told me to go ahead and go get it.
“That is why you all saw, every time they got the ball, they were looking for 12 (Morant’s jersey number). Credit goes to them, without them I would not be in the position I was in, they allow me to get to my spots with how well they can score the ball.”
Morant and the Grizzlies are living up to the moniker of the most entertaining team in the NBA. With 1:38 left in the first half, Morant soared on a monstrous dunk that propelled Memphis’ bench players out of their seats and immediately rocketed his slam to the top rung of the league conversation about the best dunk of the year.
With 0.4 seconds left in the first half, Morant would top his earlier dunk highlight. After a made free throw by the Spurs, Memphis center Steven Adams threw a quarterback-like pass 94 feet. On the receiving end, Morant snared the missile and fired it in for a quarter-ending shot as his momentum landed him into the arms of awaiting teammates.
“I mean, just phenomenal force,” said Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins of Morant’s performance. “He set a tone with the pace that he was playing with, pushing the ball in transition, obviously getting downhill, finishing. … But, then also I thought he did a really good job defensively. We, as a team, kind of struggled at times against the number one pace team in the league. But, trying to get to the next play, I thought Ja did a really good job.”
The Grizzlies’ locker room celebration mirrored the on-court jubilation immediately after the game.
“You saw how the team celebrated on the court after that unbelievable Steven (Adams) to Ja connection at halftime,” said Jenkins. “More of the same, just a little bit more water now involved in the locker room. So, (Ja) got the game ball. Teammates were hooting and hollering for him. Smiles everywhere. A big win for the team….”
Ja’s night was another team win, with winning plays and contributions from multiple sources. Grizzlies guard De’Anthony Melton finished with 15 points, 6 rebounds.
“At this point, he (Morant) is at the rim every night, but tonight he was just in attack mode from the jump,” Melton said. “He got whatever he wanted, and it looked easy out there. It was just special to just be out there, and watch that. The way he did it, and missing eight shots, crazy.”
Fielding a recurring post-game question – Favorite play between Morant’s dunk or buzzer beater? – Melton said, “That dunk was crazy. The way he rose, stared at him, then dunked it. That dunk was crazy for sure.”
As for the buzzer-beater, Melton said, “Steve-O (Steven Adams), he does that (the full-court pass) all the time,” with the result this time being “Ja catching it, and throwing it up, almost behind the backboard. It felt like a game-winner; it felt like we won the game right there.
“That is just the excitement we have for each other. We love to see those types of plays, and we love to see that type of energy flow through the team.”
With a sense of light-heartedness, Spurs legendary coach Gregg Popovich said, “I’m a little angry. I feel like if we held him in the 40s we would’ve been OK. But no, he’s a beautiful player, what else can you say about him.…
“(S)ome say it’s because he’s athletic or a freak of nature because he’s so fast. He’s got a lot of athletic ability, but so do a lot of those guys.
“He makes decisions, he knows what’s going on the court, he passes the basketball and he inherently understands space; he knows where he is on the court and where everybody else is and when he has a lane, he knows what to do. You combine that cerebral part of his game with the athleticism and you have a special kid.”
Next up: The Grizzlies travel to Boston for a Thursday night (March 3) matchup with the Celtics before returning to face the Orlando Magic at 7 p.m. at FedExForum on Saturday (March 5).
