Getty Ja Morant against the Miami Heat.
Memphis Grizzlies rookie point guard, Ja Morant is one of the hottest watches in the NBA right now.
He also doesn’t back down from seasoned NBA veterans.
Houston Rockets beware!
Grizzlies’ Ja Morant said “tell that motherfu**** about me” after James Harden left him wide open for three!
Case in point: Tuesday night at Home against the Houston Rockets. With the Grizzlies down 19-10 in the first quarter against the Houston Rockets, Morant had possession of the ball and was barely guarded by Houston Rockets All Star, James Harden. Morant pulled up from the three point line and drained an uncontested three pointer.
After being left wide open for three and making the shot, Morant ran back on defense and while headed back up court muttered to Harden: “tell that motherfu**** about me.”
The Grizzlies, winners of six straight games, won the game 121-110. The teams were tied at 95 with about eight minutes left. The turning point in the game came when the Grizzlies went on an 11-1 run thanks to key 3-pointers from Solomon Hill, Dillon Brooks and Morant that gave Memphis a 106-96 lead with five minutes remaining.
Morant finished the game with 26 points, five rebounds and eight assists.
Memphis’ Dillon Brooks added 24 points,Jonas Valančiūnas chipped in with 19 points and Jaren Jackson Jr. had 15 points.
James Harden led all Rockets scorers with 41 points, six rebounds and six assists in 39 minutes of action. The Rockets were without Russell Westbrook in Tuesday’s game. Houston did get scoring from help from Eric Gordon who chipped in with 23 points, Ben McLemore’s 14 points and Clint Capela’s 16 points.
With the Rockets loss, they are 26-13 are sitting in fifth place in the NBA’s Western Conference behind a Los Angeles Clippers team that like Houston is 6-4 in their last ten NBA games. The Houston Rockets will have some homecooking over the next few games.. Houston plays host to Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum and Carmelo Anthony’s Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night at Toyota Center. On Saturday, the Rockets will host LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the Los Angeles Lakers on a nationally televised game on ABC. On Monday, the Rockets will host the red-hot Oklahoma City Thunder which features the surging point guard duo of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chris Paul.
Meanwhile back at the ranch: Ja Morant is having a superb season in his first year in Memphis. The Murray State product who was the second overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft is currently averaging 17.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 6.9 assists for the 19-22 Grizzlies who are currently in eigth place in the NBA’s Western Conference and have gone 8-2 in their last ten ball games.
The excitement of Ja Morant has become undeniable. Retired NBA champion, turned television analyst, Kendrick Perkins raved about Morant on Twitter and stated that Morant is a top five NBA point guard who deserves to represent the Memphis Grizzlies in this year’s NBA All Star Game in Chicago, Illinois.
“This Kid is beyond Special,” said the ESPN analyst.
I’m watching this Rockets @ Grizzlies game and Ja Morant is a top 5 PG in the League and I’m starting to wonder if he deserve to be representing the Memphis Grizzlies in the All-Star game. This Kid is beyond Special!!!
Before taking a road trip through Boston and Detroit to play the Celtics and Pistons next week, the Grizzlies will play host to the Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson-led Cleveland Cavaliers at home on Friday night and the Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball-led New Orleans Pelicans on Monday.