Memphis Grizzlies: Ja Morant quietly had the best game of his career
After a handful of close games ending in losses, the Memphis Grizzlies finally secured a win in a tight game against the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night. Granted, the Trail Blazers are in a slump, with this not being their first close loss of the week, but when you’re playing Damian Lillard, any strong finish should be appreciated.
The Grizzlies were uncharacteristic from what we’ve seen recently. At the end of the game, they clamped up defensively, continued to put the basketball in the hoop, and closed out the game by making free throws.
It was a true team effort and Jaren Jackson Jr.’s return has created a feeling of completion on this Grizzlies team, even without Jonas Valanciunas in the lineup in the past couple of games. That said, one player stood above the rest.
Memphis Grizzlies PG Ja Morant quietly had the best game of his career
When you read “best game of his career,” the initial instinct is probably to try and find a game that was better. And while you may find better scoring outputs, passing games, defensive showings, or electrifying games, you’ll come up empty-handed if you’re trying to find a better all-around performance from the Grizzlies point guard.
Morant was scoring at will against the Blazers, getting buckets at the rim whenever he pleased. This opened up opportunities for him to dish out dimes to his teammates, allowing the Grizzlies to surpass the 30-assist mark, a number that almost always results in a Memphis win.
Most importantly though, Morant kept the basketball safe. We’ve seen him hit high assist totals in the past, but give up a few bad turnovers along the way. That wasn’t the case on Friday night, as Morant played a near-flawless game. Here’s what his numbers looked like.
- Points: 33
- Assists: 13
- Rebounds: 5
- Steals: 1
- Turnovers: 0
That’s right. As mentioned, we’ve seen Morant have similar games to this in the past, but one number sticks out on that last. Zero turnovers.
Morant played a huge role in beating the Trail Blazers in turnover margin, a stat that Portland is among the league’s best in. It was a classic example of Morant leading by example, with the team mimicking his play style.
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If he can continue to give the Grizzlies this type of production down the stretch, a Memphis team with a trending Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Jonas Valanciunas could be unstoppable.