Ja Morant's debut proved he is ready to take the NBA by storm

The Grizzlies' season-opening win against the Utah Jazz on the road wasn't the most well-played game by a team that is looking to contend. However, the play of Ja Morant, especially down the stretch when the game was in the balance showed why this team is considered a Western Conference contender.

The season opener is Ja Morant's calling card as he averaged 32.3 points entering last night's opening win (32.6 if you add his first game last season). In the Grizzlies' 126-124 victory over the Jazz, Ja Morant scored 22 points and had 10 assists, including clutch play after clutch play when the Jazz erased a 17-point lead to tie the game in the fourth quarter.

Every time the Jazz made a run in the second half, Ja Morant had an answer when he was on the court on both ends of the court. There was a sequence in the third quarter when the Jazz had a chance to hold the ball for the final shot to cut into a six-point lead and Ja Morant put the pressure on rookie Cody Williams, stealing the ball at half-court and finishing at the rim with an and-one.

This play was just one of many highlight reel plays that the NBA fan had become accustomed to seeing from Morant and it was a welcome site to see again. The final nail in the coffin to secure the victory consisted of Ja Morant attacking the basket with a behind-the-back dribble and finishing at the rim with one of his acrobatic layups that left the crowd speechless.

He is one of the absolute best in NBA history at scoring at the rim and despite reports of him wanting to attempt more threes (he only attempted two), he was nearly unstoppable when he attacked the basket. The added measure seen from Morant in game one was the control to protect his body by not trying to dunk on any and everyone but instead using his layup package to score in multiple ways around the rim.

The aggressive defense was a pleasant site to see from Morant as Taylor Jenkins challenged both him and Desmond Bane to turn up their intensity on that end for the team to take the next level. The playmaking has always been there but it helps when his teammates make their shots and give him the scoring help (he was third on the team in scoring) needed for the Grizzlies to succeed.

The rest of the NBA was warned consistently throughout the offseason that "12" was coming back to remind everyone how good he is. Well, the time is now and he has already delivered and got eyes back on him just one game into the new NBA season.