How did Morant grade his performance vs Pistons?
Ja Morant doesn't like praising his game. So after the Grizzlies‘ 109-95 home win over the Pistons on Friday night, he asked reporters to grade his 29-point performance on a scale of 1-10.
Morant scrolled through the comments and saw most gave him between an 8-9.5. But ever the critic, the second-year point guard gave himself a 6.5.
“I missed too many shots. Got to be better behind the arc,” said Morant, who shot 10-for-23 at Fedex Forum. “Good thing is I'm continuing to shoot. Four assists. Two turnovers. That dumb foul at the beginning at the game, that deducts for me.”
He was still happy and so were the Grizzlies (13-12) after their first winning streak since the start of the month. A 15-1 fourth quarter run powered by Morant and rookie guard Desmond Bane proved the difference with Morant leading the way.
Ja Morant takeovers are still fun to watch
When the Pistons (8-21) got within 58-57 in the third quarter, it was “Third Quarter Ja” to the rescue. Morant made a layup to start a 12-3 run where he scored seven points.
He had 13 points in the period and helped push the lead back to 11 by quarter's end. After the Grizzlies led 97-90 in the fourth, Morant went on a 8-0 run to put the game away.
He was also aggressive getting to the free throw line with a season-high 10 attempts, making nine. Although he scored 21 points in the second half, he was disappointed he shot 0-for-5 on 3pointers.
“Gotta be better, see y'all tomorrow,” Morant said.
Desmond Bane, De’anthony Melton return with feeling
De'anthony Melton missed six games with shoulder soreness but he returned doing what he does best. A little bit of everything. He had five points, four steals - three in the first half - and three rebounds.
Bane had just one 3-pointer in his first game back after missing the previous four. But his 10 points added a scoring punch that's been missing from the bench the last week.
The Pistons closed within 90-89 and Bane drove from a three-point play. He added a fastbreak layup to finish his 5-0 run.
A mixed bag on defense
The Grizzlies gave up 14 3-pointers but held All-star candidate Jerami Grant to 16 points on 5-of-20 shooting after he scored a career-high 43 points on Wednesday.
The Grizzlies also nearly blew a 21point lead, which gave flashbacks of losing a 20-point lead to the Lakers. But they also held the Pistons to just one field goal in the final six minutes.
Maybe it was missing Dillon Brooks, who didn't play due to a thigh injury. But the Grizzlies regrouped and have now closed out teams in three of the last four games.