Ja Morant was absolutely blazing the New Orleans Pelicans. It looked like the Memphis Grizzlies' returning star kept his scoring chops sharp despite the suspension. He was going toe-to-toe against hot-handed Brandon Ingram and ended up being triumphant. Even Zion Williamson was caught off-guard with how well his 2019 co-draftee performed, via ClutchPoints.
“He was able to do whatever he wanted… We didn't get any stops. They scored almost every possession,” was the tough pill that Zion Williamson had to swallow after the Pelicans' lead slowly crumbled.
The Pelicans' efforts fell short
Ja Morant was the primary scorer for his return game. He notched 34 points while knocking down 12 of his 24 shots. This along with his game-leading eight assists gave the Grizzlies a huge boost. But, Brandon Ingram and the other Pelicans did not back down. Ingram scored 34 buckets on 11 successful attempts out of 18. Williamson, on the other hand, only contributed 13 points which spelled their eventual doom.
Not only did the Pelicans fall short of trying to outscore their enemies, but their defense was also quite questionable. They had allowed the whole of the Grizzlies squad to knock down 50% of their shots from all three levels of scoring. Williamson's squad also could not close out defensive possessions well after a miss. They had allowed 13 offensive rebounds for the Grizzlies.
All of this combined did not bode well in trying to keep their opponents at bay. They had a final opportunity to defend but it was just not fate for the game to reach overtime. Will the Pelicans be able to patch up these woes soon?