On February 27, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued, the Grizzlies won 116-110 against the Bulls, a two-game losing streak ended, the Grizzlies led 31-22 in the first quarter, and then almost always occupied the initiative, until the remaining 9 minutes of the fourth quarter still led by 99-83 16 points.
However, in the next half of the quarter, the Grizzlies suddenly fell into a scoring drought, and the Bulls played a 16-2 wave led by DeRozan to successfully chase the score to 99-101, and with 14.9 seconds left in the game, the Bulls only trailed 110-113 and had a chance to draw.
In a crucial round, DeRozan was defended with the ball in a single, and then DeRozan was dissatisfied with the penalty, complaining that the referee had eaten a second technical foul and was sent off, and Morant made three free throws on the free throw line, completely killing the game.
After winning this victory, the Grizzlies recorded 42-20, continuing to sit in third place in the league, and the Bulls ended their six-game winning streak with a record of 39 wins and 22 losses, continuing to rank second in the East.
In this game, Morant's performance was really amazing.
All over the court, Morant played a total of 36 minutes, shooting 15 of 28, 4 of 3 three-pointers, 13 of 15 free throws, 46 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, it should be said that 30 of these 46 points came from the second half, of which in the third quarter, Morant bombed 20 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists in the single quarter.
When it came time to play, Morant even staged a 360-degree turn layup, which Adams commented on: "Today's 360-degree turn is too crazy, different, too crazy." ”
After the game, Morant said of the third quarter breakout: "I saw the Michael Jordan video playing at home of the Bulls during the timeout, which made me play out of form" - in terms of this performance, Morant is really a Danzi possession.
The 46 points is Morant's career-high and his 5th personal 40+ of the season:
Against the Lakers, 40 points, 3 rebounds and 10 assists
— Against the Lakers, 41 points, 10 rebounds and 2 assists
— Against the Spurs, 41 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists
— Against the Blazers, 44 points, 5 rebounds and 11 assists
— Against the Bulls, 46 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists
Of those, the 44 points against the Trail Blazers occurred 10 days ago — the last game before All-Star Weekend — the second-highest score of Morant's career, in other words, in just 10 days, Morant twice set new career highs.
So far this season, Morant has played in a total of 48 games, averaging 27.1 points, 5.9 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game, shooting 49.0%/33.2%/75.8% of the three shots, and shooting 57.2% of the true shooting rate.
Here, we make three simple comparisons.
First, last season, Morant's average per game was 19.1 points, 4.0 rebounds and 7.4 assists, the true shooting rate was 53.7%, in addition, in the first two seasons of his career, Morant only got 9 30+ times, but this season has not finished, his 30+ has reached 20 times - it is no exaggeration to say that Morant is fully qualified to compete for the fastest improved player this year.
Second, in the past 25 games, Morant's average data per game is 30.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 6.7 assists, and the true shooting rate is 57.9%, during which he has 14 30+ and 4 40+, including a continuous wave of 7 consecutive 30+, ranking fourth in the league in scoring in the same period, indicating that the state is getting better and better.
Three, compared to the third-year Rose, that season, Rose's average per game was 25.0 points, 4.1 rebounds and 7.7 assists, shooting 44.5% from the field, shooting 55.0% from the field, leading the Bulls to 62 wins and 20 losses, and personally becoming the youngest MVP in history
In terms of leading the team's record, there is still some gap between the current Grizzlies and the Bulls at that time, but if you only look at the personal data, Morant this season has not even lost to Rose, and currently in the MVP list, Morant has been in the top ten for many consecutive periods.
Truth be told, the top three MVPs have all played historic stats, and it's very difficult to compete for MVPs in such a big year, unless the Grizzlies can win 60 games — which means that the Grizzlies have to win at least 18 of the remaining 20 games.
Of course, even if you can't get the MVP, Morant's performance this season has been greatly affirmed, and being selected as an All-Star starter is the biggest proof that 22-year-old Morant is becoming the league's most potential new star, he and the Grizzlies, the future has to watch.