After watching his team post a miserable 6-19 record while he was serving a 25-game suspension, Ja Morant has the Grizzlies looking like winners again, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPN. Morant had 30 points, six rebounds and 11 assists in Saturday’s victory at Atlanta as Memphis improved to 3-0 since his return. The secret to the success, according to Morant, is that the players are enjoying themselves again.
“The tough part was not being able to be out there and enjoy and have fun with my guys, but now that I’m out there, I’m making sure that we’re all having fun no matter what,” Morant said after Thursday’s game. “So that was pretty much just my message. You could just tell by the energy of the team. We catch a lob, you got the bench going crazy, you got the players screaming, yelling, dapping each other up. That’s our type of basketball. That’s how we are. That’s the team we are, the people we are.”
Memphis fans are enjoying having Morant back as well, MacMahon adds. They took part in a parade outside the arena to celebrate his first home game, which marked just the fourth sellout of the season at FedEx Forum.
“You got to play the game with a lot of joy,” Desmond Bane said. “And when you’re losing and down, sometimes it’s hard to find that spirit and that swag. But regardless, winning, losing, up, down, you got to have that fire and that fight. And I think we got that now.”
There’s more from the Southwest Division:
- Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins indicated that Marcus Smart may be ready to return on Tuesday, tweets Damichael Cole of The Commercial Appeal. Smart has been sidelined since November 14 with a left foot sprain and has only appeared in 11 games this season. Jenkins hopes Luke Kennard can begin playing five-on-five next week and can be back in the rotation by the end of December, per Rob Fischer of Grind City Media (Twitter link).
- A pregame mishap prevented Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama from playing tonight at Dallas, according to Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. Wembanyama suffered a right ankle sprain when he stepped on a ball boy’s foot during warmups. He went to the locker room to get his ankle retaped, but coach Gregg Popovich opted to hold him out of the game for precautionary reasons.
- Trey Murphy has become a valuable part of the Pelicans‘ offense since returning from left knee surgery that forced him to miss the first 19 games of the season, notes Christian Clark of NOLA. Murphy made his first start Thursday and delivered 28 points in a win at Cleveland. “I feel great,” he said. “I’m getting back into my rhythm. I’m getting back into the flow of things. It’s just in time for the dog days of the season. I have fresh legs for those times.”
He’s not eligible and this is just for fun, so calm down…
Ja for MVP? Memphis can’t win without him…
He is the most valuable player on his team, and if they can make the playoffs as a top 6 seed then he should be considered because they were on track for a top 3-5 pick without him.
Which is why MVP and “best player” are not the same thing. NHL does it best – an award for both.
Totally agree. NBA MVP is more of a popularity contest
technically they left the door open by allowing for exceptions. If he doesn’t miss any games from here in. I’d say eligible but NBA may see it differently
A parade for a players return….. Sad days we live in if that’s what get people going
Ja going to save Jenkins job maybe.
I watched that Rockets and Pelican game. As a Rockets fan, Trey Murphy looked pretty good. It was any teams game and I feel the Rockets got lucky at the end. Pelicans went ice cold the last 5 minutes of the game and let the Rockets leave New Orleans with a W. It was a great back and forth game and a nail biter. I love those type of games regardless of who wins.
I wish the Pelicans as the season moves on the best. You guys have a team and was impressed how well you guys did in transition ball. For the most part, it was pretty good playing. Pelicans did get sloppy at times and the chopping of Sengun while a few fouled out in doing so, I wasn’t a fan of. Sengun left with a shiner on his eye and a W. Sengun played angry and did real well on the free throw line. Guy was on fire.
Zion is a beast though. When he is on, he is a Shaq type. When he is off, he is Clint Capella type. I think he was gassed at the last 7 minutes of the game. He murdered the paint and Rockets had no answer for him. He just ate up too many minutes (from what I saw) and may have sat for a total of 5-7 minutes. Hopefully Pelicans reduce his minutes load and keep him healthy all year.