© Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports
Ja Morant’s Huge Performance Leads The Memphis Grizzlies To Massive Win Over The Los Angeles Lakers
Whether a tweet from a fan or just simply the desire to take his team to the next level after losing five-straight was the motivation, Ja Morant had a masterful performance on Saturday night. The Grizzlies would win 105-88 against the Los Angeles Lakers at home.
Morant finished the game with 27 points, 14 assists and 6 rebounds, making 4 of 6 three-pointers. Morant credited his performance to a tweet that was sent out about him from a fan questioning the “fire in his eyes.”
The fire was definitely in Morant’s eyes as he served as the catalyst of the Grizzlies win. Morant, who normally does the bulk of his scoring in the game’s final frame, came out aggressively in the first quarter scoring 9 of his 27 points.
Grizzlies Head Coach Taylor Jenkins shared his thoughts on Morant’s performance and the team’s win.
“I thought early in the game the Lakes were physical on him but he was able to turn the corner and just get enough slivers and our bigs were doing a good job of rolling,” said Jenkins. “As the game unfolded, forced late passes, made couple of floaters here and there, but come fourth quarter, they raised their level, not just on Ja but everyone from the entries to denying. When they put two guys on him to create that turnover where it lead to a fast break, we start talking about how we usually execute against the blitz. And the guys were phenomenal in it.”
© Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports
The Grizzlies had lost five straight games and Saturday’s win was needed with the Spurs, Blazers, Pelicans and Kings now in pursuit of the final playoff spot. Morant would share his thoughts on the game as well.
Ja Morant Locker Room Comments
“Every game is important; nobody likes losing so it definitely feels good to get back on the winning side,” said Morant. “I feel like we had a great performance tonight. We learned from yesterday and tonight we played all 48 minutes and were out there competing every second we were out there.”
“It was a good win, we weren’t panicking,” Morant added. “I won’t say it’s not big, but a lot of people are trying to make it seem that way coming off of a losing streak, they all needed that win. We need to win every game. We are just going to keep working. It definitely was a special win tonight.”
© Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports
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