The Memphis Grizzlies will likely avoid being swept out of the 2025 Playoffs, responding to their opening losses to the OKC Thunder with a 77-51 lead at halftime in Game 3. Even though the Grizzlies might steal this one from the best team in the NBA, they suffered a major loss in this game.
During the second quarter, Ja Morant went up for a relatively open dunk but came crashing to the hardwood floor after Lu Dort switched off his defender to interrupt Morant’s shot attempt, causing him to leave the game with a hip injury. Fans are furious at Dort’s actions.
Lu Dort takes down Ja Morant 😳 pic.twitter.com/6IUGk56Wmj
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) April 25, 2025
“If a Grizzlies player contested a Shai dunk in game one while down 27, and cleared him the way Dort just did Ja, they would’ve ejected them. Ridiculous,” said one passionate and angry Grizzlies fan.
“Unbelievable behavior by Lu Dort to contest that dunk down 27, should be ejected honestly. No place for that in the game,” said one fan who was shocked at Dort’s foul.
“Very tired of the NBA not protecting Ja Morant,” said another fan, criticizing the referees for never protecting Morant against aggressive defenders.
“When will the NBA protect Ja Morant and eject players for this intentional garbage? What does he have to do to deserve just an ounce of empathy and respect? People complain he’s not energetic when he’s targeted every single game,” said another fan.
“I’m not sure what you are supposed to do there if you are Lu Dort. You are running full speed to chase a guy down. He throws a behind-the-back pass. You slip trying to quickly recover, and it accidentally knocks Ja Morant out of control mid jump,” said one fan defending Dort’s foul.
“Lu Dort is not dirty, he’s just involved in a ton of unintentionally dangerous plays,” said one fan sarcastically.
Dort does have a reputation for being one of the most physical defenders in the NBA. While some call him the best perimeter defender in the NBA, others call him one of the dirtiest defenders in the NBA.
He used his stocky and muscular build to trouble all five positions if they had the ball on the perimeter, often guarding the best player on the opposing team regardless of position.
Morant left the game with 15 points (6-11 FG) and five assists in just over 15 minutes of action. Through the first three quarters, Dort has scored 0 points (0-4 FG) in the game, as OKC’s offense has been completely neutralized by the Grizzlies.
Everyone will be praying for a speedy recovery for Morant and hoping he doesn’t miss any time in this series. Even with it potentially becoming a 2-1 deficit for Memphis, not many will back them to actually complete the series comeback to eliminate OKC, especially without Morant in the lineup.
