Ja Morant made a triumphant return to the NBA after serving his 25-game suspension by leading the Memphis Grizzlies to a win over the New Orleans Pelicans. After orchestrating a 24-point comeback and capping it off with a game-winning buzzer-beater, Morant felt rewarded after the challenging last eight months of his life.
Ja Morant: “I’ve been putting work in, man. I ain’t played a game in 8 months. I had a lot of time to learn myself, and a lot of hard days where I went through it. But basketball is my life, what I love, therapeutic for me, and I’m just excited to be back.”.
Stephanie Ready: “Walk us through that last play.”
Ja Morant: “Call 12. I really didn’t want coach to call a timeout, that’s why I told him that’s the play I want to run. They believe in me. I actually wanted to go into the post, but they told me no. I had to deliver for them.”
Ja Morant: "I've been putting work in, man. I ain't played a game in 8 months… Basketball is my life, what I love, therapeutic for me, and I'm just excited to be back."
Stephanie Ready: "Alright, walk us through that last play?"
Ja: "Call 12." 😂pic.twitter.com/F61Auoiwpk
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) December 20, 2023
Morant was really happy going into the locker room from the tunnel as well, telling the world that he kept receipts for what everyone said about him in his time away from the court.
“Back on that timing baby! I kept receipts too!”
“ I KEPT THE RECEIPTS TOO”
– JA 💥
(🎥 @mikecwright )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) December 20, 2023
Morant’s talent has always been undisputable but his actions over the last season left a black mark on his career. He’s young enough to overcome it with ease and it seems a lot of people are giving him that room due to his incredible talent. He proved that tonight in this win over the Pelicans.
Talent always gets nurtured and protected in the NBA. Morant made some immature mistakes but everyone will hope that this second chapter of his career is lined with success and not more legal issues or suspensions.
Can Morant Make A Playoff Push?
It’s very early in the season to discuss playoff pushes, as it’s a term that we see used in vogue around the trade deadline. However, the Grizzlies have dug themselves such a hole without Morant that they have to start making a playoff push immediately. They have seven wins on the season so far after 26 games played, which doesn’t bode well for their playoff hopes.
Even if they can make up for the 19 losses they already have, the Grizz have to outpace the likes of the Suns and Warriors who are fighting for a play-in spot as well and are considerably ahead of Memphis in the standings. The Warriors are five games ahead of the Grizz in the 11th seed while the Suns are seven games ahead as the 10th seed.
Morant will be motivated to try as hard as possible to sneak into the play-in over the remaining 56 games the Grizzlies have this season. Given the competition in the West, the Grizz may need to reach 42 wins or more to have a shot at the 10th seed. That means a 35-21 record over the rest of the season. It’s possible, but it’ll be a massive challenge.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
