MEMPHIS, Tenn. — It's clear Ja Morant has not forgotten about last season, particularly April 12. That's the game that the Los Angeles Lakers came to Memphis and beat a depleted Grizzlies squad, 123-120. Morant watched from the sidelines, nursing a shoulder injury that ended his season.
"I don't like 'em. They knocked me out of the (2022) playoffs. And then last year we had a game and they came in here and popped it on our home floor when I was in street clothes. That wasn't tonight," Morant said.
Wednesday, he was able to get revenge. The Grizzlies star scored 20 points and dished five assists before leaving the game after a hard fall in the third quarter.
Before then, he took a shot at the king and didn't miss. In the second quarter, Morant and LeBron James had a back and forth worthy of the popcorn. Morant scored an And-One opportunity over the Lakers' Gabe Vincent and did the "too small" motion. James came right back and backed down Morant into a score. He returned the "too small" gesture.
A couple possessions later, Morant scored over Vincent again and then bumped James before the inbound pass, leading to a technical foul. He walked ahead of James all the way down the floor before the free throws.
"He's 6'8", whatever. I would expect it, I thought it was a charge. He did it and I don't back down from nobody. Don't care who you are. My job was to just come back. I got my bucket and I set the tone. My teammates fed off of it and you see what happened," Morant said.
"Top dog in our league, you take out the top dog and who else you fear?"
To be fair, James did post 39 points, seven rebounds and six assists without Anthony Davis in the loss. In the April game, James had an electric dunk and bumped Morant on the sidelines. Morant denied that anything had been building since then, but remembered that moment.
"(James) was just next on the schedule, (the) Lakers actually. I won't even say him, Lakers. They beat us last time. I didn't get to play last year. They came on our home floor, beat us on our home floor, was laughing, playing, looking at me, talking," Morant said. "My message was 'I was in street clothes.' It was my first opportunity to get back on the floor playing against them."
This is just the first matchup of three between the two squads. The Grizzlies will see the Lakers again in Los Angeles on Nov. 13.