The Memphis Grizzlies are still in control of the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference, but only barely because of a recent slump that saw them lose five games in a row. With the West-leading Los Angeles Lakers coming into town on Saturday night, it seemed certain the losing streak would hit six.
Instead, the young Grizzlies pulled off a huge upset, and did so convincingly. After extending their lead to double digits late in the first half, they never let the Lakers into the game, and cruised to a 105-88 win. Leading the way, as usual, was their electric rookie point guard, Ja Morant, who finished with 27 points, 14 assists and six rebounds in one of his best performances of the season. In the process he also joined Oscar Robertson as the only rookies to put up 27 points and 14 assists against the Lakers, which is an extremely arbitrary accomplishment, but pretty cool nonetheless.
It’s not hard to get up for a game against LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the Lakers, but Morant revealed in his postgame interview that he had a bit of extra motivation for this one. Apparently he got annoyed with a Twitter troll and decided to show out to prove a point. No, seriously, that’s what he said.
Morant’s full answer:
The losing streak was eating me up. I felt like I could have been better in a lot of places. I’m thankful for this guy who tweeted and said I don’t have that fire in my eye no more. That game right there was for him. That’s what I do, I prove people wrong each and every night, and that’s for him right there.
After the game, he even jumped on Twitter and tweeted at the guy to tell him thanks again.
Just incredible stuff.
In case you weren’t aware, you probably are now that Morant is one of the most online players in the league. But in case you need more proof, the original tweet he got upset about didn’t even mention his handle; he found it anyway.
Hey, whatever it takes. And for everyone out there online, this is big news for you too. Send enough tweets and maybe someday you can drive a player to put together one of his best performances out of pure spite.
