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The Memphis Grizzlies entered Wednesday night's contest against the Portland Trail Blazers 41-18. That's the third best record in the NBA. The biggest reason for that has been the emergence of Ja Morant to superstardom. On Wednesday, he made some franchise history.
Ja Morant has 27 points, the most in a first half by a Grizzlies player over the last 25 seasons. pic.twitter.com/CpelFEO2va
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) February 17, 2022
Morant dropped 27 points on the Blazers in the first half. That is the most by any Grizzlies player over the last 25 seasons. 20 of those points came during the first quarter, the most in Morant's career. He shot 5-5 and came out on fire.
Ja Morant spent some time having coffee in mid-air ☕pic.twitter.com/FYvKpJur1Q
— Grizzlies Nation (@GrizNationCP) February 17, 2022
One of Morant's biggest attributes as a scorer is his athleticism and ability to hang in the air, as seen above. He did not slow down as the game progressed either. The Grizzlies superstar finished the game with 44 points on 11 for 20 shooting from the field. He also knocked down 21 out of 25 shots from the charity stripe.
The Memphis point guard added 11 assists and five rebounds. In doing so, Morant joined Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young as the only players with multiple games scoring 40 plus points and dropping 10 or more assists.
However, the Grizzlies shockingly lost the game to a tanking Portland team, 123-119. Jusuf Nurkic and Anfernee Simons combined to score 63 points for the Blazers.
The loss snapped Memphis' six-game winning streak and will likely leave a sour taste in their mouth. The Grizzlies will head into the NBA All-Star break comfortably in third in the west. They are also only two games behind the Golden State Warriors for second. The top spot though, currently held by the Phoenix Suns, is all but out of reach.
