The Brooklyn Nets beat the Memphis Grizzlies 119-106 on Wednesday night. The Grizzlies lost Marcus Smart early in the game to an ankle injury and Ja Morant struggled, managing just 14 points on 16 field goal attempts.
Morant did contribute in other ways though. He had 11 assists and eight rebounds and also stood up for a teammate.
Scotty Pippen Jr. got into it with Keon Johnson late in the third quarter. Johnson bumped Pippen who then made the mistake of touchding Johnson who was standing over him while he tried to get up. Johnson could then be seen throwing a haphazard elbow towards Pippen, which resulted in a double-technical foul.
Enter Ja Morant.
On the Grizzlies' next trip down the floor Morant went right at Johnson and scored a layup. Morant then got right in Johnson's face and talked to him the entire way up the court. Eventually, referees called another double-technical on Johnson and Morant, which resulted in Johnson's disqualification.
Maybe not the most mature or classy version of leadership, but he let an opponent know not to mess with a teammate. And he did it in a non-violent, kind of clever way. If nothing else, Pippen knows that Morant has his back.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Ja Morant Stuck Up For Teammate and Baited an Opponent Into an Ejection.
