After being banned for 25 games, Ja Morant scored 34 points and then made the game-winning shot at the end against the Pelicans.
The star Grizzlies guard came back from being down 19 points at halftime to help Memphis defeat the New Orleans Pelicans 115–113 on Tuesday. He then made the game-winning dunk at the buzzer.
Morant scored 34 points, had eight assists, and grabbed six rebounds in his first game back after being banned by the NBA because of several gun-related incidents.
He made only 12 of 24 shots from the field or 10 of 12 at the free throw line. He also missed every one of his attempted 3-point tries.
He got away to a slow start to a rough first half against the Grizzlies. The Pelicans took a 60–41 lead at halftime after a 23-0 run in the second quarter. But after a seven-point first-half deficit, Morant took charge in the second.
It was 87–77 for the Pelicans at the end of the third quarter. Then they made small gains in the fourth beforehand Morant took over at the end of the game.
Desmond Bane, the shooting guard for the Grizzlies, saw Morant take over near the end of the game and knew it was the wrong move.
With 9.6 seconds left in his delayed season start, Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant was already tired from leading his team back from a 24-point loss to tie the game.
After taking a break, Morant used a massage gun on his calves, which he felt were beginning to cramp. He then suggested a play: a post-up for power forward Jaren Jackson Jr.
“He told me, ‘F— no, you get the ball,'” Morant said after Tuesday night’s 115–113 win over the Pelicans ” “At that point, I almost just had to get myself in and go deliver.” I did it.”
Morant brought it home in a big way by making his first game-winning buzzer-beater in his career to cap off a 34-point, 6-rebound, 8-assist effort.
He used a spin move to beat Pelicans defender Herbert Jones in the lane and then threw the ball in as time ran out at the Smoothie King Entertainment Center.
Morant shut up the New Orleans fans who were booing him when he first came back from serving a 25-game ban for brandishing a gun on a live Instagram video in May. This was the second time in two months that he did something like this.
His friends and the hundreds of Grizzlies fans in the arena cheered him on. Morant’s father, Tee, or best friend, Davonte Pack, who were sitting on the steps next to the Memphis bench and facing the court, were among the fans.
According to ESPN Stats & Info study, that was the same number of game-winning baskets made in the last 1:30 of a fourth quarter as at any time in the previous 25 years. The last person to do that was Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic in 2019.
Even though he hadn’t played in a game in eight months, Morant scored 27 of his 34 points during the second half, despite the fact his wind made it hard for him.
He hadn’t played since April, when he lost in Game 6 of the opening round of the playoffs to the Los Angeles Lakers, 40–12. That game was when the No. 2 seed Grizzlies were eliminated.
Middle of the third quarter, Morant used a breathing device to get more air. He did it again during the interval before the end of the fourth quarter.
In the last 90 seconds, Morant made three field goals that put the game out of reach, all of them on one-on-one runs against Jones.
The Grizzlies were down seven points when Morant came back in with 8:17 left in the game. He then took over the rest of that game.
He scored 14 points in the last 7:15, including the last six points of the game for the Grizzlies. He made five field goals in the paint based on drives and four free throws.
“Obviously, I’ve been training hard, but it’s nothing such as NBA basketball, so that’s essentially just doing the inhaler in order to obtain more oxygen in the body so I’m able to go onto the court and deliver,” said Morant.
“When I went back inside after eight minutes, they told me, ‘You’re not coming out.'” I had to focus and keep going. That’s pretty much how my life is—always pushing forward.”
The winning shot by Morant happened at 9:01 p.m., which is the same time as the Memphis country code.
It was the Grizzlies’ initially game-winning shot in the last second since Oct. 27, 2019, when Jae Crowder made a three-pointer off of a Morant pass against the Brooklyn Nets. That was Morant’s first win as a professional.