Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies is something else. That's as simple as you can describe him with the kind of season he is having. But if you dig deep enough to find out why exactly Morant is playing the way he is this year, you'd find that he is getting lots of success by attacking the basket. In fact, he leads the entire NBA in points in the paint per game, as illustrated here in this graphic shared by Kirk Goldsberry.
Leading Scorers By Zone pic.twitter.com/mmEj1Lls1v
— Kirk Goldsberry (@kirkgoldsberry) November 19, 2021
Some might find it surprising that Morant, with his slim built, is getting plenty of points in the shaded area. Although NBA offenses today put premium on spacing the floor, the Grizzlies are still so reliant on Morant's ability to get in the lane and mess with the big boys. Morant even had the following to say about those who doubt his ability to eat in the shaded area.
coming out of college they were saying" i was too small & wouldn't be able to finish at the rim vs the bigs in the NBA. "
looks like i'm doing just fine 🥲 https://t.co/aRTIo2eh3l
— Ja Morant (@JaMorant) November 19, 2021
As a guard, Morant of course isn't getting his points in the paint by posting up. Instead, he does it by putting his head down while attacking the basket and using his explosiveness, speed, and athleticism to finish at the rim. In fact, Morant is leading the NBA in drives per game (12.9), while knocking down over 50 percent of those shots.
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