INDIANA – His teammates were all stunned, and the National Basketball Association’s official Twitter account posted, in capital letters, “DUNK OF THE YEAR CANDIDATE”.
Ja Morant was the star in Indianapolis on Saturday night, when the Memphis Grizzlies point guard electrified the road crowd with a thunderous one-handed dunk midway through the third quarter en route to their 130-122 victory over the Pacers.
When asked by ESPN if the dunk was his best ever, he said: “Yeah, easy, because of the difficulty. It’s what everybody has been waiting for. I finally made it.”
Desmond Bane, who led the team with 25 points as the Grizzlies extended their winning streak to a season-high nine games, said: “I ain’t seen nothing like that one. That’s probably going to go down as dunk of the year.”
Morant, who has averaged 30.5 points in his last six games, had 23 points and 10 assists on the night.
He scored 10 points in the third period to give Memphis a 97-79 advantage heading into the final frame, and Indiana were unable to pull within striking distance from there.
Despite the win and the streak, Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said that his team were not playing “perfect basketball” but praised them for staying focused.
“I’m just glad our guys are finding different ways to win, whether we’re playing with a lead or playing from behind,” he said.
“Each game has presented a different challenge for us and our guys have stayed the course.”
Santi Aldama added 17 points, Ziaire Williams scored 13 and Steven Adams had 10 points and nine rebounds for Memphis, who led by as many as 34 and shot 55.2 per cent from the field.
The Grizzlies improved to 29-13, tied with the Denver Nuggets for the best record in the Western Conference.
Chris Duarte scored 25 points to lead Indiana (23-21), while Bennedict Mathurin added 16, T.J. McConnell had 13 points and 11 assists and Isaiah Jackson chipped in 12 points.
Indiana, who played without injured starters Tyrese Haliburton and Myles Turner, lost their third straight while shooting 36.9 per cent from the field.
Elsewhere, Jayson Tatum scored 33 points as the Boston Celtics overturned a double-digit deficit to extend their lead (32-12) at the top of the Eastern Conference with a 122-106 road win over the lowly Charlotte Hornets.
The Celtics were heavily favoured to record their sixth straight victory against a Hornets team propping up the conference table with just 11 wins.
At one point, Charlotte led by 16 before Boston stormed back to cut the Hornets’ lead to 66-62.
“I think we lose that game a month ago,” Celtics interim coach Joe Mazzulla said on ESPN.
“One of these things we talk about is closing out quarters and starting quarters, so the end of the second quarter was huge for us. I thought we did a great job.”
REUTERS, AFP
