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It's a testament to the Memphis Grizzlies' depth and resolve that they managed to pull out a 115-110 win over the Sacramento Kings despite witnessing Ja Morant get himself ejected with 6:49 remaining in the fourth quarter with an animated protest to a foul call against him. Morant was whistled for a shooting foul on a DeMar DeRozan fadeaway, and the Grizzlies star was apoplectic, expressing his frustration in such an overt manner that the officials decided to call his second technical foul of the night — giving him an early trip to the locker room.
Making matters worse for the Grizzlies is that the officials admitted following their win over the Kings that they should not have called a foul on Morant on that play — validating the star point guard's incensed reaction to the unfortunate turn of events.
“In live play the official thought that Morant bumped DeRozan on his jump shot. However, after postgame review Morant was in legal guarding position and should not have been called for a foul,” Grizzlies-Kings officiating crew chief Pat Fraher said in his Pool Report, via Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal.
Credit has to go to DeRozan for selling the purported foul; he fell to the ground as if he was bumped by the Grizzlies star, which forced a whistle out of the officials. But the Grizzlies star is also well within his rights to react that way, especially when the officials themselves admitted that they made a mistake by calling the foul in the first place.
Perhaps the league rescinds Morant's second technical foul, which is something that could come in handy when the Grizzlies star begins to rack up technical fouls. But this will all be moot, although the good news for the Grizzlies is that Morant's ejection did not cost them the win.
Ja Morant's poor outing for the Grizzlies ends in frustration
Ja Morant was already in the middle of a nightmare outing for the Grizzlies when the officials ended his night prematurely. Morant, in 28 minutes of play, put up a poor stat line of eight points, three rebounds, and seven assists on a putrid 2-13 shooting night. But thankfully, Morant's absence did not result in a loss.
Marcus Smart and Desmond Bane made huge plays to take the Grizzlies across the finish line, with the former nailing two free throws in the final possession to ice the game at 115-110.
