Ja Morant was the only starter to score in double figures and was one of just two Grizzlies players who registered more than nine points in the embarrassing defeat. Morant finished with 17 points on 6-of-17 shooting, three rebounds, four assists, a block and one triple in the loss.
The two-time All-Star came into the game dealing with an ankle sprain that he sustained during their play-in loss to the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday. In fact, Morant had to get an injection on his ankle on Thursday before their play-in win against the Dallas Mavericks.
Morant played through the ankle issue again on Sunday against the Thunder, but he refused to use it as an excuse after the blowout loss.
Morant issued a clear statement when he was asked about the ankle problem.
“I felt good. I was available,” he said bluntly.
The good news for Grizzlies fans is that the ankle appears to be a non-issue for Morant, and this should be the case again on Tuesday for Game 2. He probably isn’t 100% healthy at this point, but Morant knows fully well that now is not the time to let these injuries get in the way of his goals this season.
As Morant indicated in his post-game press conference, the bad taste from their lopsided loss in Game 1 will be erased if Memphis wins on Tuesday and ties the series at 1-1.
At this point, you can be sure that Morant will do everything in his power to make sure that the Grizzlies do not go down 2-0 in Game 2.
Ja Morant Makes Bold Promise Ahead of Game 2
The Memphis Grizzlies got shellacked on Sunday inside the Paycom Center.
It was a recipe for disaster from the word go for the Grizzlies. The team had just played on Friday night and roughly 36 hours later were tipping off Round 1 of the NBA Playoffs in a hostile enviorment against the best team in basketball.
Mix in 22 turnovers, getting out rebounded, being held to 34% shooting from the floor, 17% shooting from 3 point land and losing the battle in transition, dropping second chance points and being dominated in the paint and you get the worst loss in franchise history hung on you, 131-80.
Desmond Bane was a historically bad -51, Zach Edey was unplayable, Jaren Jackson Jr. was invisible and Ja Morant had no answers for the Thunder’s harrassing defense.
It was a forgettable day for the Beale Street Ballers and leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth for how competitive the rest of the series will be.
The reality? It was just one game. In the race to four wins, the Thunder still need three. Regardless of the margin of victory, there are not style points for blowout bouts. Morant and the Grizzlies know that.
“We’ll never play that bad again,” Morant said when asked what he tells his locker room after a lopsided game such as this one.
The Grizzlies star is right, it seems impossible to play any worse than Memphis did on Sunday.
“If we win Tuesday, the series is 1-1 and this game won’t matter,” Morant explained when asked for a positive to take away from this game.
Once again, score one for Morant. The road team in a series is only trying to steal one of the first two games to set themselves up for an upset, ripping back away home court advantage.
