Ja Morant has set a new career high in points, adding two standout highlights to his collection in the space of two minutes. The Memphis Grizzlies defeated the San Antonio Spurs 118-105.
Memphis Grizzlies (43-20) – San Antonio Spurs (24-38) 118:105 (BOXSCORE)
First Jakob Pöltl found himself on the wrong side of a poster, as Morant in the fast break took off just one step inside the free throw line and tucked the ball over him. A little later Steven Adams sent the ball from his own baseline with 0.4 seconds to play in the best Patrick Mahomes manner in the direction of Morant, who controlled the ball on the opponent’s baseline and immediately placed it in the basket from the air.
That’s how spectacular Morant recorded his points 28 and 29 in the first half, in the end there were 52 points on his account. That surpassed the Grizzlies’ franchise record of 46 points, set by Morant himself. Two days ago! With constant MVP calls, he converted 22/30 from the field, 4/4 from downtown, and 4/7 on free throws. He also played 7 assists in 4 turnovers.
Morant’s teammates wasted no time in tweeting his praises after the game: while Jaren Jackson Jr. wrote only “Chosen” and Tyus Jones only “12 is different”, Kyle Anderson provided a comparatively detailed analysis: “12 has lots of New York City in his game. A mix of Kareem Reid, Rod Strickland and Derrick Rose at his best. If Morant scores from 11 yards it’s over!”
Spurs guard Dejounte Murray made the best start in the superstar’s defense: in the first attack of the game he stole the ball from Morant for a free layup in the fast break, after which he sprinted right back and cleared Morant’s layup from behind. Perhaps he was just teasing Morant, though.
Yes Morant perfect from downtown – hit from the logo
Murray was his team’s second-best scorer with 21 points (8/20 FG) and 8 assists behind sixth man Lonnie Walker IV (22, 9/18), but had to take a shower a little early. With just under two and a half minutes to go, he threw a ball too hard and in clear frustration at a referee who knocked him out of play. However, with a deficit of 12 points, a comeback would have been difficult for San Antonio anyway.
In addition to Morant, only De’Anthony Melton (15) and Tyus Jones (13) scored in double digits coming off the bench, Steven Adams (4) grabbed 5 of his 14 rebounds on the offensive board and opened up with 5 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks himself attentive. Pöltl (16, 8/11 FG, 10 rebounds, 4 assists) and Doug McDermott (14, 4/7 3P, 5 assists) scored well for the Spurs.
Despite Morant’s explosion and significantly better shot rates of 53.9 percent from the field and 42.3 percent from downtown (only 28.1 for the Spurs), Memphis was only able to break away late in the game, and the Spurs kept the deficit in the single digits for a long time.
In the first quarter, San Antonio got off to a better start and led 15:9 before it became apparent that Morant could be “on fire” today. After a deflected pass, he had to get the ball out of his own half with five seconds left on the shot clock. just dribbled over the logo and pulled the trigger – nothing but net!
Spurs keep up – Popovich still close to the record
Morant kept getting through to the ring, with the rest of the players on both sides also sinking some, which gave the Grizzlies a 42-34 lead into the second quarter. There Morant only came back on the floor with almost 5 minutes to play, but immediately threw in two threes before he buttoned Pöltl and scored 7 points in the last 34 seconds before the break. 68:58 Memphis.
San Antonio got better into the second half as well, quickly cutting to -2 before other Grizzlies alongside Morant made a couple of crucial throws. Spurs seemed to have missed their chance for a possible lead when Memphis turned up the heat late in the quarter and pulled away to 96-85.
In the final section Morant dived a bit at first, only with the Spurs breathing down his neck in the middle of the quarter did he switch back to 100 km/h, which was simply unstoppable. His last five hits from the field all came directly at the ring at short intervals, which decided the game.
Almost 90 seconds before the end, Morant left the floor to thunderous applause. Gregg Popovich will have to wait at least one more game to level with Don Nelson as head coach with the most wins in NBA history.
