"I'm not afraid of anyone, man, I'm not going to be afraid of anyone on the pitch." Morant said in an interview on the sidelines, "Whether you're 7'7" or whatever, I'm going to rush straight at you. ”
This is Ja Morant, whose words are always a manifestation of a juvenile arrogance.
On Jan. 5, Morant scored six straight points in the final 36.7 seconds of the game to help the Memphis Grizzlies win 110-106 on the road to the Cleveland Cavaliers to win six straight. One of them, the counter-goal scored against Brandon Goodwin, was amazing. Morant's super ability to stay in the air made Evan Mobley, who was defending from behind, sigh.
However, this does not seem to be enough. In the next leg, he successfully completed a steal from Darius Garland and ran from this half to that half to complete a fatal layup.
All the dust settles.
After these two rounds, Morant naturally had the capital to say the opening words in front of the camera. Morant finished with 26 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.
Two weeks ago, some Grizzlies fans said to morant, who had just returned, at the Federal Express Arena, "Sit back." Since then, Morant has averaged 29.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game, and the Grizzlies have a 6-1 record. Morant didn't bother to tell anyone who had held the view that the Grizzlies would be better without Morant with the results of game after game, you were wrong.
The Grizzlies trailed by 11 points in the first half of the game against the Cavaliers, and Morant helped the team tie the score in less than four minutes in the late second quarter. In the Grizzlies' 13-0 offensive climax, he shot 2 goals and delivered 2 assists. In the second half of the following season, the cavaliers and the Grizzlies, the two "dark horses" of the season, were caught in a tug-of-war between you and me, and the fearless Morant finally buried the Cavaliers.
Since the Grizzlies lost to the Thunder, look at what Morant has done and said. On December 28, 2021, Morant killed one of the league's strongest teams: the Phoenix Suns. On December 30, Morant's performance was even more explosive. He led the team to a 104-99 comeback victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, in which he slashed 41 points and 10 rebounds and said the beautiful trash words after the game: I feel better after knowing that this victory will make the fans in purple and gold sad. On January 1, 2022, Morant led the team to a 118-105 victory over the San Antonio Spurs with 30 points and eight assists; on January 4, Morant, who undisputably won the Western Conference's best team of the week, blasted 36 points and eight assists to easily beat the Brooklyn Nets led by Kevin Durant and James Harden. After that, his teammate Desmond Bain volunteered to add a handful of firewood.
Bain said: "People debate whether he should be an All-Star, but I think we should discuss whether Ja is the best point guard in the league. ”
Morant didn't speak, but he backed Bane's remarks with his actions on the field. After winning back-to-back games over the Nets and Cavaliers, Morant said, "No matter who the opponent is, we keep the same mentality and compete throughout the game, both of which are critical. ”
The Cavaliers have lost 4 of their last 5 games, but that doesn't mean the Cavaliers are going downhill. Cavaliers' backcourt core Garland missed four games for triggering NBA health and safety deals, and they also lost their most dependent commander: Ricky Rubio. These contingencies have hit the Cavaliers continuously, but the Cavaliers are still a good team with cohesion and resilience. Garland returned in this game, contributing 27 points and 10 assists, with only one turnover. Jarent Allen had 22 points and 12 rebounds, and veteran Kevin Love had 18 points and 10 rebounds.
The trio won two-doubles in the same game, a performance that didn't drive the Cavaliers to win, and Cavaliers head coach Bixtaugh praised the Grizzlies' defense after the game: "They did a good job defending, made some mistakes and ruined our efforts. We didn't do a good job of balancing some shots. When you lose those balls, they get those long rebounds and then they get chances with ease. They're really a team that's very good at switching. ”
"Good teams win at home, good teams win away from home." Morant said proudly.
Morant is one of the most entertaining players in the NBA. Morant was always so confident, and from time to time he came up with some golden sentences. He attacks the basket fearlessly and relentlessly every night, his control of his body in the air, his imaginative passes, and these make your eyes simply not take your eyes off him. At the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, even the 22-year-old rising star on the road got the fans' MVP voice.
After the game, Kevin Durant praised Morant. Commenting on the away MVP's ode, Morant said: "It's surreal, I've been trying to prove myself to be one of the best players in the league and my recent performances have clearly helped me to get more recognition from the away fans. ”
Last season, Morant eliminated Stephen Curry's Golden State Warriors into the playoffs. In a series against the Utah Jazz, he sneaked up on Joe Ingalls to steal the ball, and when he lunged into the basket, he found that it was Rudy Gobert, the defensive player of the year, who was standing in front of him. Most defenders slow down or try to swing past defenders with European steps when facing a 7-foot giant like Gobert, but Morant takes off with a kick in the air and only the basket in his eyes.
In that game, Morant scored 47 points. The Grizzlies naturally couldn't beat the Jazz, but Morant averaged 30.2 points and 8.2 assists in his first playoff game. In the series against the top seed in the West, he looked like the best player on the field.
Morant said after the game about facing Gobert, I'm not afraid. His duty is to protect the basket. And my job is to score when I attack the basket. He gets a good cap, but like you can see, I'll also attack the paint.
That mentality continued into the 2021-22 season, especially as he returned from a knee injury and an NBA safety and health deal.
Currently, Morant is ranked 12th on the league's league scoring list with an average of 25.1 points per game, surpassing his defenders only Mitchell, Zach Lavin, Curry and Trae Young. If you generalize the range of data to BPM, the top two in this position are Curry and Morant.
No matter how you measure it, Morant is on the list of the best point guards in the game. Considering he's only 22 years old, that should be something to be taken seriously for the rest of the league.
His athleticism, contribution to every game and immeasurable fearlessness led him to successive victories. Needless to say, Morant is one of the most important young cornerstones of the league.