Ja Morant wasn't even supposed to play on Saturday in Game 3 of their NBA Playoffs first-round matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers. Instead, the Memphis Grizzlies superstar chose to play through an injury in his shooting hand — and boy did he come to play.

LeBron James and the Lakers came out of the gate firing, mounting a huge lead early in the game. They kept their foot on the gas throughout the contest, but a persistent Grizzlies side just kept chipping away at their lead. In one final push, Morant led a mind-blowing run for Memphis by scoring 24 out of the Grizzlies' 33 points in the final frame. This included 22 straight points on what would have been an astounding comeback for Memphis if only they were able to complete it. In the end, however, the Lakers managed to hold on and escape with a 111-101 victory in Game 3.

Nevertheless, NBA Twitter was absolutely buzzing after watching Morant put the Grizzlies on his back in the fourth quarter:

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RB Hayek ·

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Morant gave LeBron and Co. a proper scare here. In fact, Ja Morant's jaw-dropping fourth-quarter takeover is reminiscent of James himself scoring 25 straight points for the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals against the Detroit Pistons. That's how good Ja was on Saturday night.

Unfortunately for the Grizzlies, Morant's heroics just wasn't enough. The Lakers hit them with a massive haymaker early on, and despite Ja's gargantuan effort, LA held on. These two teams do it all over again on Monday in Game 4.