Ja Morant has produced a spectacular second half in his extremely anticipated NBA season debut, sinking a buzzer-beater to steer Memphis to a much-needed street win over New Orleans.
Morant returned on Wednesday (AEDT), having served a 25-game ban for holding a gun throughout a livestream video final 12 months after the NBA dominated that his actions have been detrimental to the league.
It appeared like there can be no fairytale comeback because the Pelicans blew out to a 24-point lead late within the second quarter and held a 19-point benefit at halftime.
But Morant took management after the primary break, scoring 27 of his equal game-high 34 factors within the second half because the Grizzlies prevailed in a 115-113 thriller.
Morant scored Memphis’ ultimate six factors, driving exhausting on the ultimate play to complete from shut vary because the buzzer sounded.
His factors tally was the very best on return by any participant in league historical past who had missed a minimum of 25 straight video games, and helped snap the Grizzlies’ (7-19) five-game shedding streak.
“I’ve been putting work in, man. I ain’t played a game in eight months,” Morant advised TNT Sports.
“I’ve had a lot of time to learn myself and a lot of hard days where I went through it.
“But basketball is my life, what I really like, therapeutic for me and I’m simply excited to be again.”
Scores were tied with 10 seconds left when Morant grabbed a defensive rebound and Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins called a time-out.
The in-bounds pass went to Morant, who remained calm but later admitted he didn’t want the game stopped for the final play.
“I actually did not need coach to name the time-out … however they imagine in me, so I needed to ship,” Morant said.
Jaren Jackson Jr scored 14 of his 24 points in the final quarter for the Grizzlies, while Desmond Bane scored 21.
Morant also had eight assists and six rebounds in an influential return.
New Orleans’ Brandon Ingram matched Morant’s tally of 34 points, with Jonas Valanciunas (22 points, 14 rebounds) and CJ McCollum (18 points) also in the action.
Australian guard Dyson Daniels had three points and two assists in 13 minutes for the Pelicans (16-12).
Elsewhere, Damian Lillard scored a season-high 40 points to push his career total beyond 20,000 as the Milwaukee Bucks beat San Antonio 132-119.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had a triple-double – the 37th of his career and second this season – with a career-high 16 assists, 14 rebounds and a season-low 11 points.
The Spurs were without No.1 draft pick Victor Wembanyama, who was sidelined with a sore right ankle.
In other action, Stephen Curry swished a three-pointer with 12 seconds left in overtime on the way to scoring 33, as the Golden State Warriors rallied past the Celtics to snap Boston’s five-game winning streak, triumphing 132-126.
And DeAndre Ayton had a double-double of 16 factors and 15 rebounds and Anfernee Simons had 23 factors and 7 rebounds, because the Portland Trail Blazers erased a 22-point deficit to beat the Phoenix Suns 109-104 and snap a seven-game shedding streak.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
