In what can be described as a defensive clinic, the Memphis Grizzlies overcame the New Orleans Pelicans in an overtime thriller, 116-115. Asked about his team's defensive effort, returning star Ja Morant described the Grizzlies' performance as “big time” just right after Tuesday night's game.

“Big time! Obviously, defense wins games,” Morant said, as per Grind City Media's Michael Wallace. “I feel like we'll be an even better defensive team. We'll (have to) clean up a little bit on the fouls and just trust each other.”

The Grizzlies amassed a total of 17 blocks and 10 steals in the outing. Returning defensive stalwart Marcus Smart contributed to five of those steals while Xavier Tilman led the blocks category with five as well. On the offensive end, Morant and Desmond Bane spearheaded the scoring, finishing the game with 31 and 27 points, respectively.

Morant shows leadership with postgame comments

Morant also credited his teammates for his Western Conference Player of the Week recognition, saying that Memphis' current win streak attributed to the team's consistency.

“These are my guys. I love them. Obviously, I'm excited to be back. But being able to come back and win four games now, and continue to take this momentum to the next game, it's big time for us. Enough of me, it's just us as a team continuing to stay consistent and continuing to trust each other and just going out there to rack up wins.”

In four games since his return, Morant has been averaging 28.8 points, 8.5 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game. The Grizzlies' four-game win streak is a sign that the team is still willing to scrap and claw in order to climb out of the hole they've been buried in. And based on the aforementioned postgame comments, it looks like Ja Morant is finally ready to be the leader the Grizzlies need.