Versatile Morant an unsolvable problem
Ja Morant did not need to rise to unstoppable levels of sensational for the Rockets to have a gameplan to deal with him.
They did. He crushed it.
The Rockets moved to plan B. He slithered through and around it until he whipped that, too.
The Rockets tried another option. No luck. And another. No dice.
Whatever the Rockets tried, and they tried just about anything that made any sense, Morant had an answer.
There are times the most unstoppable players are not stopped by a defensive scheme, whether Luka Doncic is side-stepping to his left to launch a 3, James Harden is Eurostepping in the lane or Giannis Antetokounmpo, whom the Rockets will face 24 hours after Morant lit them up, is going from coast-to-coast.
Morant defeated everything the Rockets tried on Friday on his way to 49 sensational points, lifting the Grizzlies past the Rockets, 129-122. He scored more points against the Rockets than anyone since Russell Westbrook had 49 for Oklahoma City in his 2016-17 MVP season, more than any Grizzlies player ever has other than his 52-point night against the Spurs last February.
The Rockets’ inability to slow him was not from a lack of ideas, though one of the best laid plans was lost when center Bruno Fernando left the game 2 ½ minutes into the second half with a
sore left knee.
Some of the schemes were not executed. Some asked Rockets players to do things they don’t do well (and won’t often be asked to try). But mostly, Morant had one of those nights that MVP-caliber marvels drop leaving opposing defenses helpless and coaches sleepless.
“You can’t deny him,” Rockets guard Jalen Green, who had 33 points and made 4 of his 5 3pointers, said of trying to defend Morant when he is sinking 3s. “Ja is already a problem as it is. When he’s making that jumper, all you can do is pray.
“That’s what took the game to another level for Memphis.”
The Rockets started the game going under pickand-roll screens, keeping Morant in front of them and allowing centers to stay between Steven Adams, the Grizzlies’ forklift of a center, and the basket where they would have at least a chance to keep him
off the boards.
That worked to some degree. The Grizzlies, the league’s most irrepressible force on the offensive glass, had no secondchance points in the first quarter.
Morant, however, poured in 3s, making all five he attempted until a late-game, no-chance heave to beat the shot clock. That led to the first change in schemes to go over screens and try to defend him from beyond the 3-point line, a change that to Morant was like a starter’s pistol to a sprinter.
“So, then we started moving up in our pickand-rolls and he started getting downhill,” Rockets coach Stephen Silas said. “We picked him up a little too soon where he was getting so downhill, so quickly.
“(Morant hitting his 3s) changes everything because he’s downhill. You have to honor the 3.
When he’s making his 3-point shots, it’s very,
very hard to guard.”
The Rockets worked to protect the paint, but when Morant drew the defense, the Grizzlies were left open to shoot 3s. After making two of eight 3-pointers to start the game, they made 17 of 34 the rest of the way.
Had Fernando stayed in the game, the Rockets would have blitzed pickand-roll screens with Fernando having the quickness defensively to trap and still get back to Adams. That did not work so well with Alperen Sengun, who was better suited for drop coverages.
“He’s a very great player,” Sengun said. “We didn’t stop him. If you get too close to him, he’s going to the rim.”
When the Rockets switched to a trapping defense, Morant split the traps like a lightning strike.
“He’s so fast,” Silas said. “We’re trying to get out there and blitz him and he’s splitting the blitz.
Or, he was dribbling around. Or we weren’t all the way up.
“It’s harder to blitz when Alpe’s in the game because of the mobility.”
When Fernando went out, Silas put K.J. Martin in the game, shifting Jabari Smith Jr. to center. But because the rookie had played and practiced so little in the preseason after his sprained ankle,
Smith had never worked on a blitzing defense as the center.
“There were times, we tried to get the ball out of his hands,” Silas said.
“He had seen so many blitzes and has played so many games and seen every single coverage, whether in regular season or a playoff series, he’s seen a little bit of everything.”
Though the rookie was tossed overboard to learn
how to swim, when Smith was at center, there was a chance to get him pickand-pop jumpers as the Rockets had in Atlanta. As with his first game, however, he missed, going 3 of 14, 2 of 8 on 3s.
Sengun, however, was playing well, scoring 23 points on 9 of 13 shooting, with 12 rebounds. He missed free throws late, going 4 of 10 from the line in the game and to the practice court after to put up a few more. But he played so well, the Rockets needed him on the floor. He was not an answer for defending Morant.
Green, who spent most of the night on Morant, rarely could match up one-on-one, with Morant working around Adams’ screens like a motorcycle cop hiding behind a billboard.
When going under screens, going over screens and blitzing screens did not work,
there was not a lot left.
When the Rockets tried switching with Smith, the Grizzlies just changed where they brought the pick, taking the switch with Smith out of the mix.
But with Green dueling Morant for so long, there was a reason for hope.
“It was an impressive performance he had, but I did tell (Rockets players) they’re who we want to be,” Silas said. “They were a young, up-andcoming team a few years back and slowly but surely got to the point where they are now. I see us very much in the same vein.”
On Friday, however, Morant had an answer for everything the Rockets tried. Green put on a show. The Grizzlies’ point guard starred in it.