Ja Morant’s explosive growth has continued throughout this season and despite having an individually disappointing first series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Ja has leveled up against the Golden State Warriors. He had a monstrous performance against a tough Warriors team in Game 2, scoring 47 points and leading his team to a much-needed win.
His performance earned him plaudits from across the NBA, even LeBron took to Twitter to give him his props, but there was one facet of it that was truly impressive. What separates stars from superstars is the ability to put their team on their back during clutch situations in the playoffs, and in this performance, Ja showed that he has that in spades.
Morant scored 15 points when it mattered most, actually outscoring the entire Golden State Warriors team in the clutch to lead his team to victory. Ja had 15 points, while the Warriors only managed 12, giving the Grizz the margin they needed to secure the dub.
Clutch is defined as the last 5 minutes of the game when the score is within 5 points, and to score 15 single-handedly in that span against a team with multiple superstars shows that Morant is headed straight for superstardom. I mean, he’s in a club with just Kobe and LeBron in terms of big playoff games before 23. Morant also had 8 assists, 8 rebounds, and 3 steals in this game, a masterful performance from the Grizzlies youngster.
Considering that he had 34 points in the first game as well, it would seem that the Warriors have almost no answer for Ja Morant, and Steve Kerr will have to figure something out if the Warriors want to convincingly win this series. In any case, it promises to be a long one, something Ja himself spoke about after his incredible performance in this game.
