The Grizzlies had just beaten the Eastern Conference powerhouse Bulls on the road, and in that game, Morant shot 15-of-28 from the field, including 4-of-3 from three-point range, and slashed 46 points on 3-of-4 shooting, setting a new career single-game scoring record. In the last three games, Morant is in hot form, scoring a total of 110 points. However, their opponents, the Spurs, are a defensively focused team, which also comes to the test for Morant.
In the first quarter of the game, the Grizzlies played a small 11-2 surge, and soon another wave of 8-0 to widen the point difference to double digits. In the first quarter, the Grizzlies led 42-34. In the second quarter, although the Spurs began to chase points, Morant helped the team maintain a double-digit point difference. The Spurs briefly forced the score to close in the first half of the third quarter, but at the end of the quarter the Grizzlies again blasted the score 10-0. In the final quarter, although the Spurs were still stubbornly chasing points, the Grizzlies still maintained the lead to the end, and finally defeated the opponent 118:105.
Morant was once again the brightest spotlight in the game, and after scoring his career-high in the last game, he once again set a new record. Morant played just 34 minutes in this game, and he had already shot 22 of 30, including 4 of three-pointers, in addition to hitting 4 free throws, slashing 52 points, and 7 rebounds and 2 assists, plus or minus as high as +23. Such crazy performances left the Spurs powerless, and it was undoubtedly a classic battle of his career.
In the first quarter of this game, Morant's state was already very hot, and while winning consecutive kills to the inside, he also shot a super far three-pointer, and finally in the first quarter of the game, he had cut 14 points on 6 of 8 shots. And that was just the beginning of his crazy performance in this campaign, in the second quarter, Morant was even more unstoppable and perfectly showed his physical talent. Not only did he contribute to the dunks in the quarter, but he also scored seven consecutive points in the final 40 seconds to help the team maintain the lead, and in the second quarter he shot 6 of 7, including an incredible 3-of-3 three-pointer and 15 points.
In the third quarter, the Spurs significantly strengthened their defense against Morant, which made the latter's offensive efficiency decline to a certain extent, but his repeated breakthroughs in the interior still put the Spurs under great defensive pressure. In this quarter, 8 of Morant's 9 shots came from the box and hit five of them, scoring 10 points again in the quarter. In the final quarter, Morant's feel returned, and the Spurs could no longer control Morante very well. In this quarter, Morant still chose to constantly attack the inside line, all 6 shots in a single quarter came from the box, hit 5 of them, and finally scored 13 points in a single quarter, scoring 52 points.
Of the 52 points he scored, Morant scored twice, perfectly demonstrating his terrifying physical talent and why he was called a "non-human essence". With about 2 minutes left in the second quarter, Morant faced the Spurs' multi-player defense in a quick break, but he was not afraid to go from the flanks and directly completed a gap dunk that was the best dunk of the year while still some distance from the basket. And the reason why this dunk is classic, in large part, is that the object of his partition is Peltel, who is 213cm tall in the Spurs, and there is a height difference of nearly 22cm between Morant and him, which can be seen in Morant's terrifying bouncing power.
And his horror show continues, also in this year, when the game is 0.4 seconds away, the Grizzlies hold the offensive ball. While there is little time left on the offense, the Grizzlies are not going to give up. When Adams was preparing to serve on the bottom line, Morant, who was still in the front court, reached out to let the former pass to himself, and Adams also passed out this extremely exquisite long pass across the whole field. Morant, who was in the front court, after receiving such an impactful pass, actually took off directly and completed a "air-to-air shot" with a very difficult coefficient, and the ball was scored at the same time, and the time just ran out. This goal is a good demonstration of Morant's strong ability to stay in the air.
In short, this battle Morant has subdued everyone in the outside world, and even Spurs coach Popovich, who is accustomed to big scenes, can't help but marvel at him. He said: "It is wrong to merely praise Morant's athleticism. He's able to make the right decisions, he knows what's going on the pitch, he's going to pass, he's great with his perception of space, he knows where he is on the pitch, he knows where the other people are, he knows which direction he should go. If you can combine his understanding of the game with his athletic talent, you will get a special child. From these words, it can be seen that even Popovich has felt completely impressed.
After this crazy World War, Morant also set a number of personal records. First of all, this is a new single-game scoring record in his personal career, and he can already score 50 points at such an age, which is a big encouragement to his self-confidence. Second, after scoring another high score in this game, Morant once again set a new record for the Grizzlies, which was his sixth single-game scoring of 40+ points this season, while other Grizzlies players have never exceeded 2 in a single season. Finally, in the last four games, Morant has played extremely well, showing a very scary state.
According to statistics, in these 4 games, Morant can average 40.5 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists per game, shooting 53% from the field and 44% from three-point range, and leading the team to a record of 2 wins and 2 losses. It is worth mentioning that in these 4 games, Morant can be said to have continuously refreshed his single-game scoring record. He scored 44 points against the Trail Blazers, 46 against the Bulls, and 52 against the Spurs. In short, the current Morant has reached an unstoppable state.
In his third season in the league, Morant has stepped into the ranks of superstars, averaging 27.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game, shooting at a career-high in both fields and leading the team to third place in the West. In the All-Star Game, he was successfully selected to the starting lineup, and if this state of affairs can continue, and the Grizzlies can maintain the record, then Morant will be a popular candidate for MVP.