<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/grizzlies-news-taylor-jenkins-credits-captivating-ja-morant-amid-personal-growth');   ga('set', 'title', 'Grizzlies’ Taylor Jenkins credits a ‘captivating’ Ja Morant amid personal growth');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Grizzlies-Taylor-Jenkins-credits-a-captivating-Ja-Morant-amid-personal-growth.jpg"></figure><h1>Grizzlies’ Taylor Jenkins credits a ‘captivating’ Ja Morant amid personal growth</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-24T15:37:58-08:00">December 24th, 3:37pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-24T15:37:58-08:00">December 24th, 3:37pm</time><address><a>Chris Dodson</a>Chris Dodson is a Memphis Grizzlies beat reporter for ClutchPoints who has also covered the New Orleans Pelicans. He has covered Louisiana high school and college basketball in spurts for over a decade. A basketball lifer from the bayou, his gumbo-stirring form matches his elbow jumper celebrations. Fast enough for varsity hoops, tall enough for a soccer scholarship. He has words and will travel, just not on the court.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Exclusive</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The NBA’s list of the most popular players included the usual suspects known for highlight dunks, halfcourt threes, and hard-to-believe outlet passes. LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers) topped the league’s most recent most-viewed player charts. The announcement gave the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/grizzlies-news-ja-morant-rubs-salt-warriors-wound-savage-admission">Memphis Grizzlies another reason to brag about Ja Morant</a> as their All-World star was close behind in second place. In fact, Morant had more views than Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors) and Klay Thompson (Dallas Mavericks) combined.</p><p>After hearing the NBA’s <a href="https://x.com/ClutchPoints/status/1871267104592392543" rel="noopener">social media audience measurements</a>, Taylor Jenkins <a href="https://twitter.com/DoingItDodson/status/1871348982649364642" rel="noopener">began by admitting the obvious</a> to ClutchPoints: the Grizzlies’ 25-year-old star is impossible to miss on a basketball court.</p><p>“Yeah, I think he (Morant) is one of the most entertaining players in our game. One of the most competitive guys,” Jenkins replied. “I think he is just captivating in how he draws in fans. Obviously with everything he has gone through the last year plus, I think there has been support since day one when he came into the league with the love that fans have for him.”</p><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Ja-Morant-Grizzlies-James-Harden-Clippers.jpg"><figcaption>Petre Thomas-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>There is no debating that the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/grizzlies-great-value-trio-nba-sixth-man-of-the-year-candidates-jake-laravia-scotty-pippen-jr-santi-aldama">Grizzlies have given Ja Morant a strong support system</a> this season. In turn, the fans have been treated to dunks, dimes, and some defense that would make the Grit and Grind era squads proud. Jenkins believes much of this team’s growth is due to Morant’s unwillingness to be complacent, especially when hit with suspensions or injury setbacks.</p><p>Everyone learns at their own pace and Morant’s authentic character has been appreciated in Memphis through it all. Jenkins sees the proof every time the FedEx Forum explodes in applause. However, it’s the work no one except those in the locker room witness that creates enough true believers to fill up Beale Street.</p><p>“(Morant) understands that relationship with his fans and has given back so much this year,” Jenkins continued. “There’s been so much growth and it’s pretty cool to watch. He has grown in so many areas since I remember him coming in as a rookie. I’m just blessed to be a part of his journey. He allows me to coach him, push him, and challenge him even more and he does the same to me.”</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Grizzlies’ Taylor Jenkins credits a ‘captivating’ Ja Morant amid personal growth

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/grizzlies-news-scotty-pippen-jr-drops-star-take-ja-morant-backup');   ga('set', 'title', 'Grizzlies’ Scotty Pippen Jr. drops ‘star’ take on being Ja Morant’s backup');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Scotty-Pippen-Jr.-drops-star-take-on-being-Ja-Morants-backup.jpg"></figure><h1>Grizzlies’ Scotty Pippen Jr. drops ‘star’ take on being Ja Morant’s backup</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-22T10:26:59-08:00">December 22nd, 10:26am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-22T10:26:59-08:00">December 22nd, 10:26am</time><address><a>Chris Dodson</a>Chris Dodson is a Memphis Grizzlies beat reporter for ClutchPoints who has also covered the New Orleans Pelicans. He has covered Louisiana high school and college basketball in spurts for over a decade. A basketball lifer from the bayou, his gumbo-stirring form matches his elbow jumper celebrations. Fast enough for varsity hoops, tall enough for a soccer scholarship. He has words and will travel, just not on the court.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Memphis Grizzlies</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The NBA is a star-driven league, of that there is no doubt. Not since the 2003-04 Detroit Pistons has a team won a title without having multiple All-NBA talents on the roster. However, the road to the NBA Finals requires a proper supporting cast ready to step up when an All-Star is sidelined. The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/grizzlies-great-value-trio-nba-sixth-man-of-the-year-candidates-jake-laravia-scotty-pippen-jr-santi-aldama">Memphis Grizzlies have a trio of NBA Sixth Man of the Year candidates</a> but only one, Scotty Pippen Jr., has been directly responsible for picking up the slack when Ja Morant sits.</p><p>Taylor Jenkins and the<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/grizzlies-news-ja-morant-jaren-jackson-jr-speak-new-minute-allocations-taylor-jenkins-zach-edey"> second-placed Grizzlies (20-9) have been rewarded</a> for trusting the developmental process. Pippen Jr. has been putting the league on notice all season, earning a full four-year, $9.6 million deal along the way. The days of dealing with two-way contract G-League travel commitments are over for one of the best two-way reserves in the NBA.</p><p>Pippen Jr. told ClutchPoints that focusing on how to best contribute to wins with an eye towards the postseason run is now the priority.</p><p>“Coach emphasizes just always being ready,” Pippen Jr. replied. “Sometimes when Ja doesn’t play I might start or it’s me getting less minutes (when Morant does play). Whatever my role is, I’m trying to be a star in my role. I’ll be ready whenever my name is called.”</p><p>Morant (back soreness) watched Pippen Jr. post 22 points, nine assists, five rebounds, and two steals in a 128-112 road win over the Atlanta Hawks. Arguably the most impressive stat was Dyson Daniels (six steals) only caused one turnover from Pippen Jr. directly.</p><h2><b>Grizzlies, Scotty Pippen Jr. pushing the pace</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Scotty-Pippen-Jr-Grizzlies-Dyson-Daniels-Hawks.jpg"><figcaption>Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Scotty Pippen Jr. (11 starts) has been ready all season. The 24-year-old is averaging 10.6 points, 5.2 assists, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.3 steals/blocks per game (22.6 minutes). However, those <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/player/1630590/traditional" rel="noopener">numbers are far better</a> when Pippen Jr. starts in place of Morant. His three-point percentage jumps almost 10 points between starting (40%) and coming off the bench (30.6%), for example. Pippen Jr.’s foul and turnover rate go down when starting games even though steals and blocks go up.</p><p>Finding a way to channel that opening tip aggressiveness even while backing up a healthy Ja Morant is the last step in becoming a truly scary contender. That has not been a problem collectively as Taylor Jenkins has the squad hitting a new gear going into the holiday season. With everyone’s roles well understood, Pippen Jr. and the Grizzlies have been racking up blowout wins over playoff-caliber competition.</p><p>Keeping the ball away from Dyson Daniels came 48 hours after the Grizzlies corralled Stephen Curry (0-7 FGA) and the Golden State Warriors in a 144-93 win. Pippen Jr. believes the Grizzlies have enough talent on the bench to <a href="https://twitter.com/DoingItDodson/status/1869959617519944073" rel="noopener">keep that revved-up energy</a> going all season long.</p><p>“We’re a super deep team so I feel like anyone on the court should be giving it their all,” stated Pippen Jr. “Even if we have a big lead we should be playing super hard and just keeping our foot on the gas. I feel like even when we are up by 20 (points) guys should be able to come in and keep that energy and build on (the lead).”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Scotty Pippen Jr. on playing Whoop That Trick in the FedEx Forum:</p><p>“Should have played it louder!”<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GrindCity?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GrindCity</a> <a href="https://t.co/kCWOrTxt4B">pic.twitter.com/kCWOrTxt4B</a></p><p>— Dodson (@DoingItDodson) <a href="https://twitter.com/DoingItDodson/status/1869959617519944073?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 20, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Road wins over the Hawks are just business trips. As for the fans celebrating to a Whoop That Trick soundtrack after dominating the Warriors?</p><p>“Should have played it a little bit louder,” Pippen Jr. joked.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Grizzlies’ Scotty Pippen Jr. drops ‘star’ take on being Ja Morant’s backup

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/paige-bueckers-juju-watkins-ja-morant-approval-usc-uconn');   ga('set', 'title', 'Paige Bueckers-JuJu Watkins gets Ja Morant’s approval after wild USC-UConn game');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Paige-and-JuJu.jpg"><figcaption>David Butler II-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Paige Bueckers-JuJu Watkins gets Ja Morant’s approval after wild USC-UConn game</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-22T10:19:15-08:00">December 22nd, 10:19am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-22T10:19:15-08:00">December 22nd, 10:19am</time><address><a>Troy Finnegan</a>Troy Finnegan is an Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2023 with a degree in journalism and minors in communications and sports media, as well as a critical sports studies certificate. He has had a passion for sports his entire life, and enjoys covering and writing about all sports.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NCAA Basketball</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>On Saturday night, one of the titanic clashes of the women’s college basketball season didn’t disappoint. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/uconn-womens-basketball-news-geno-auriemma-difficult-take-huskies-record-3-point-game">No. 4 UConn and No. 7 USC went back and forth</a> all evening in a blockbuster matchup between two Final Four and national title contenders.</p><p>Star guards <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/uconn-womens-basketball-news-paige-bueckers-teammate-reveals-fellow-huskies-helped-end-drought">Paige Bueckers and JuJu Watkins were the main attraction</a> on Saturday night, and the two stars showed out. Watkins finished the game with 25 points, six rebounds and five assists while Bueckers added 22 points for the Huskies.</p><p>After the game, Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant was <a href="https://x.com/JaMorant/status/1870671499713229074" rel="noopener">impressed with the show</a> that the two superstars were putting on.</p><p>“🔥,” Morant commented on a post of the two on X, formerly Twitter.</p><p>After USC controlled much of the early going, Bueckers led her squad back from an 18-point deficit to tie the game late and give UConn a chance to come away with what once seemed like an improbable victory.</p><p>With just under 90 seconds to go and the game tied at 67, Watkins found center Rayah Marshall under the basket wide open to beat the help and get USC a wide open layup that broke the tie. Watkins then made three free throws in the next two possessions go give USC a 72-69 lead in the final seconds.</p><p>UConn wasn’t just ready to roll over there, however. Star freshman Sarah Strong was fouled on a last-second 3-point attempt and had a chance to tie the game at the line. Unfortunately, she missed the second free throw, and even though Bueckers came up with a huge offensive rebound, Strong’s desperation heave was off the mark and USC came away with a win.</p><p>Watkins and the Trojans had to be happy with this win, as it serves as a bit of revenge for them after UConn eliminated them in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament last season. With the way that these two squads are constructed, there’s a decent chance that these two teams will see each other again in March. If they do end up facing off, the fans and the viewers are the real winners no matter who comes out on top.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Paige Bueckers-JuJu Watkins gets Ja Morant’s approval after wild USC-UConn game

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/grizzlies-news-ja-morant-playing-hawks-injury-update');   ga('set', 'title', 'Grizzlies’ Ja Morant out vs. Hawks due to back injury concern');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Grizzlies-news-Is-Ja-Morant-playing-vs.-Hawks-Latest-injury-update.jpg"></figure><h1>Grizzlies’ Ja Morant out vs. Hawks due to back injury concern</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-21T09:24:03-08:00">December 21st, 9:24am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-21T09:39:35-08:00">December 21st, 9:39am</time><address><a href="https://www.facebook.com/joey.mistretta/" rel="facebook">Joey Mistretta</a>Joey Mistretta is a Dallas Mavericks beat reporter, Dallas Wings beat reporter and lead MLB editor for ClutchPoints. He is originally from Lake Arrowhead, California. Mistretta graduated from Biola University with a degree in broadcast journalism.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Memphis Grizzlies</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant <a href="https://ak-static.cms.nba.com/referee/injury/Injury-Report_2024-12-21_11AM.pdf" rel="noopener">was initially listed on</a> the NBA injury report for the team’s game on Saturday night against the Atlanta Hawks. Morant is dealing with low back soreness as the Grizzlies prepare to play the Hawks in Atlanta. So is Morant playing tonight?</p><p>Morant was listed as doubtful, however, the Grizzlies star has been <a href="https://x.com/GrizzliesPR/status/1870512641786921261" rel="noopener">downgraded to out</a>, the team announced. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/grizzlies-news-ja-morant-rubs-salt-warriors-wound-savage-admission">Morant has played at an All-Star level</a> this season, but <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/grizzlies-news-ja-morant-playing-warriors-injury-update">injuries have been a concern for him</a>. The Grizzlies will attempt to defeat the Hawks despite Morant’s injury absence on Saturday.</p><p>The two-time All-Star is currently averaging 21.2 points per game on 44.9 percent field goal shooting. Morant is recording 8.1 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.2 steals per outing as well. He is one of the best guards in the league, and the Grizzlies will certainly miss his presence on the floor during Saturday night’s affair.</p><p>With that being said, Memphis has been able to remain competitive even when their best player is not available. The Grizzlies are 7-4 this season without Ja Morant. They are 12-5 when he is available, however. Nevertheless, the 7-4 record will give Grizzlies fans hope heading into the Hawks clash.</p><p>Overall, Memphis holds a strong 19-9 record, which is good for second place in the Western Conference. Atlanta, meanwhile, is seventh in the Eastern Conference with a 14-14 record. The Hawks are certainly capable of pulling off an upset at home, though.</p><p>The Grizzlies are looking to maintain their momentum following their convincing 144-93 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Thursday. It was an offensive explosion to say the least from the Grizzlies, so Memphis should have no shortage of confidence moving forward.</p><p>The Hawks were most recently defeated 133-126 by the San Antonio Spurs. Atlanta is hoping to bounce back as soon as possible.</p><p>Tip-off for the Grizzlies-Hawks game is scheduled for 7:30 PM EST on Saturday night as Memphis looks to earn a victory despite Ja Morant’s absence.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Grizzlies’ Ja Morant out vs. Hawks due to back injury concern

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/grizzlies-news-ja-morant-rubs-salt-warriors-wound-savage-admission');   ga('set', 'title', 'Grizzlies’ Ja Morant rubs salt into Warriors’ wound with savage admission');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Ja-Morant-rubs-salt-into-Warriors-wound-with-savage-admission.jpg"></figure><h1>Grizzlies’ Ja Morant rubs salt into Warriors’ wound with savage admission</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-20T00:10:45-08:00">December 20th, 12:10am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-20T00:10:54-08:00">December 20th, 12:10am</time><address><a>Alex House</a>Alex House is a sports journalist who covers the NFL, NBA, and MLB for ClutchPoints. He grew up in a New York sports-heavy region in Connecticut and earned his journalism degree at the University of Rhode Island. His in-depth knowledge of two of the most passionate and raucous fan bases in the country gives him a truly unique writing voice.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Golden State Warriors</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Memphis Grizzlies (19-9) continue to demonstrate why the FedExForum is one of the most difficult places for visiting teams to play in, as they <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/warriors-news-stephen-curry-makes-striking-admission-after-51-point-embarrassment-vs-grizzlies">dismantled the Golden State Warriors</a> on Thursday, 144-93. Ja Morant exited in the second half after landing hard on his back and played just 17 minutes, but domination ensued anyway.</p><p>Memphis sunk a franchise-record 27 3-pointers and enjoyed a lopsided advantage in fast break points (22-4), rebounds (60-36) and assists (38-20). The Warriors did not belong on the same court as the Grizzlies on this night. Morant relished being part of the shellacking, but he <a href="https://x.com/grindcitymedia/status/1869958470986018897" rel="noopener">also took great pleasure in watching</a> it from the bench.</p><p>“For me, when I was out there, it was very fun,” the star point guard said, via Grind City media. “When I wasn’t, it was even funner.”</p><p>If this team is going to make a deep run, Morant will have to be the catalyst. He is “The Guy” on Memphis and one of the most dynamic players in the game today. Though, it is always encouraging to see what the whole squad can accomplish. The West cannot be won without a balanced roster. The Grizzlies are flashing the necessary star power and depth it takes to complete such a conquest.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"for me, when i was out there, it was very fun. when i wasn't, it was even funner." 🤣</p><p>ja morant speaks on the dominant 48 minutes from the grizzlies over the warriors<a href="https://twitter.com/MyMikeCheck?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MyMikeCheck</a> <a href="https://t.co/st4EDZ3unU">pic.twitter.com/st4EDZ3unU</a></p><p>— Grind City Media (@grindcitymedia) <a href="https://twitter.com/grindcitymedia/status/1869958470986018897?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 20, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Everybody gets to eat in Grizzlies’ win</b></h2><p>Santi Aldama scored a game-high 21 points off the bench, knocked down five 3-pointers, snagged 14 boards and recorded two steals. Jake LaRavia added 19 points and four triples. When the supporting cast excels, this group looks like a terrifying beast. The Warriors were utterly devoured, as <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/warriors-news-stephen-curry-career-low-point-stunning-blowout-grizzlies">Stephen Curry failed to make</a> any of his seven shot attempts. Morant left his mark on Golden State as well, even in an abbreviated outing.</p><p>The two-time All-Star collected nine points, three assists, two blocks and two swipes in the blowout win. He was<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/grizzlies-news-ja-morant-playing-warriors-injury-update"> questionable with low back soreness</a> before the matchup, so his exit could obviously exacerbate his discomfort. It is unclear if Morant would have checked back into the game if the score was closer, but considering he missed more than a handful of games after taking a hard fall earlier in the year, his status is definitely worth monitoring.</p><p>Any pain Ja Morant is feeling should be somewhat alleviated by the drubbing he and his teammates unleashed on the Warriors. The second-place Grizzlies aim to continue their ascent up the Western Conference when they square off with the Atlanta Hawks (14-14) in State Farm Arena on Saturday.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Grizzlies’ Ja Morant rubs salt into Warriors’ wound with savage admission

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/warriors-news-draymond-green-zach-edey-huge-ja-morant-block');   ga('set', 'title', 'Draymond Green, Zach Edey get into it after huge Ja Morant block');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Draymond-Green-Zach-Edey-gets-into-it-after-huge-Ja-Morant-block.jpg"></figure><h1>Draymond Green, Zach Edey get into it after huge Ja Morant block</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-19T19:09:27-08:00">December 19th, 7:09pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-19T19:09:27-08:00">December 19th, 7:09pm</time><address><a>David Yapkowitz</a>David Yapkowitz is an NBA Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is a credentialed reporter based in Los Angeles who covers the NBA/WNBA, NCAA/NCAAW and boys/girls high school basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Golden State Warriors</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>If there’s an altercation during a Golden State Warriors game, it’s a good bet that <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-news-rudy-gobert-trolled-gilbert-arenas-draymond-green-altercation">Draymond Green is somewhere nearby</a>. Sure enough, during the Warriors game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday, there was a stoppage in play after Draymond Green went chest to chest with Zach Edey and the pair had to be separated. This was after Green went up for a seemingly uncontested shot only to have Ja Morant <a href="https://x.com/SportsCenter/status/1869930548640006537">come flying in from behind</a> and block his attempt.</p><p>The Ja Morant block occurred after Zach Edey left Draymond Green briefly to help after Jonathan Kuminga spun past Santi Aldama to get to the rim. Kuminga dished a pass to an open Green only to have Morant rotate over and surprise him from behind.</p><p>While running back up court on the break, Green and Edey were fighting for positioning and ultimately got in each other’s face following a bit of elbowing.</p><p>Green has never been one to back down from an altercation, and it appears as if Edey is not either even though he is only a rookie. And there is a little bit of recent history between these two. During the last Warriors game against the Grizzlies, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/grizzlies-news-taylor-jenkins-zach-edey-delayed-justice-draymond-green-flagrant-foul-upgrade-nba">Green tripped up Edey and the foul was upgraded to a flagrant</a> foul after the game.</p><p>The initial foul led to Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins making postgame comments about the play, which then led to <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/warriors-news-draymond-green-rips-apart-grizzlies-taylor-jenkins-zach-edey">Green criticizing Jenkins on his podcast</a> and insinuating that Edey is soft.</p><p>But the Grizzlies responded in an impressive way. As of publication, the Grizzlies were pummeling the Warriors by 50+ points about midway through the fourth quarter. Green registered only a single steal in a little over 19 minutes while shooting 0-of-4 from the field. Edey on the other hand, had eight points, six rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots in a little over 20 minutes of play.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Draymond Green, Zach Edey get into it after huge Ja Morant block

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/grizzlies-news-ja-morant-playing-warriors-injury-update');   ga('set', 'title', 'Is Grizzlies’ Ja Morant playing vs. Warriors? Latest injury update');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Grizzlies-news-Ja-Morant-gets-concerning-injury-update-amid-blowout-vs.-Lakers.jpg"></figure><h1>Is Grizzlies’ Ja Morant playing vs. Warriors? Latest injury update</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-19T07:54:46-08:00">December 19th, 7:54am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-19T07:54:46-08:00">December 19th, 7:54am</time><address><a href="https://www.facebook.com/joey.mistretta/" rel="facebook">Joey Mistretta</a>Joey Mistretta is a Dallas Mavericks beat reporter, Dallas Wings beat reporter and lead MLB editor for ClutchPoints. He is originally from Lake Arrowhead, California. Mistretta graduated from Biola University with a degree in broadcast journalism.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Memphis Grizzlies</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/grizzlies-news-ja-morant-stephen-curry-warriors-nba-playoffs-preview-nba-mvp-all-star-voting">Memphis Grizzlies are preparing to host the Golden State Warriors</a> on Thursday night. Ja Morant, however, is dealing with low back soreness. Is the Grizzlies star playing on Thursday against the Warriors?</p><p>Although he has played well in 2024-25, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/grizzlies-news-ja-morant-sit-vs-pistons-new-injury">Morant has been forced to miss some time due to injuries</a>. Overall, he has played in 16 of the Grizzlies’ 27 games. Morant is averaging 27.7 points per game on 44.9 percent field goal shooting to go along with 10.6 assists, 5.9 rebounds and 1.5 steals per outing.</p><p>Memphis is set to enter the game with an 18-9 record, while Golden State is 14-11. The Warriors started the season strong, but they have been far more inconsistent over the past month. With that being said, the Warriors are more than capable of pulling off an upset on the road.</p><p>Morant’s status will unquestionably be important for determining the outcome of the game. Here is everything we know about Ja Morant’s injury status for tonight vs. the Warriors.</p><p><b><i>*Watch NBA games LIVE with fuboTV (</i></b><a href="https://www.fubo.tv/lp/nba/?irad=356361&amp;irmp=492408" rel="noopener sponsored"><b><i>Get Access | Save $30</i></b></a><i>)</i><b><i>*</i></b></p><h2><b>Ja Morant’s injury status vs. Warriors</b></h2><p>Morant is currently <a href="https://ak-static.cms.nba.com/referee/injury/Injury-Report_2024-12-19_10AM.pdf">listed as questionable</a> due to low back soreness, per the NBA injury report.</p><p>The Grizzlies have out-performed expectations up to this point. Despite being limited at times, Morant’s play is a big reason behind their success. He features the ceiling of an MVP.</p><p>At just 25 years old, Morant is the leader Memphis needs on the floor. He is an elite finisher and playmaker, as he can impact multiple facets of the game.</p><p>Still, matching up against Stephen Curry and the Warriors is never an easy task. Golden State remains a threat to upset the odds even when they do not play their best basketball.</p><p>Tip-off for the Warriors-Grizzlies contest is scheduled for 8 PM EST. As for the question of if Ja Morant is playing tonight, the answer is currently uncertain.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Is Grizzlies’ Ja Morant playing vs. Warriors? Latest injury update

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/grizzlies-news-ja-morant-stephen-curry-warriors-nba-playoffs-preview-nba-mvp-all-star-voting');   ga('set', 'title', 'Ja Morant’s Grizzlies vs. Stephen Curry’s Warriors deserves TNF hype from NBA');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Ja-Morant-Grizzlies-looking-to-replace-Stephen-Curry-Warriors-in-Western-Conference.jpg"></figure><h1>Ja Morant’s Grizzlies vs. Stephen Curry’s Warriors deserves TNF hype from NBA</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-18T12:23:37-08:00">December 18th, 12:23pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-19T15:54:08-08:00">December 19th, 3:54pm</time><address><a>Chris Dodson</a>Chris Dodson is a Memphis Grizzlies beat reporter for ClutchPoints who has also covered the New Orleans Pelicans. He has covered Louisiana high school and college basketball in spurts for over a decade. A basketball lifer from the bayou, his gumbo-stirring form matches his elbow jumper celebrations. Fast enough for varsity hoops, tall enough for a soccer scholarship. He has words and will travel, just not on the court.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Golden State Warriors</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The entire league took a day off after the Milwaukee Bucks won the NBA Cup. Now it’s back to business, and a showdown between <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/grizzlies-news-ja-morant-jaren-jackson-jr-speak-new-minute-allocations-taylor-jenkins-zach-edey">Ja Morant’s resurgent Memphis Grizzlies</a> and Stephen Curry’s Golden State Warriors might be the best game on the Dec. 19 docket.</p><p>Morant missed the first Grizzlies-Warriors meeting, a 123-118 loss in San Francisco. Both squads look to be near full strength for the rematch in Memphis. Steve Kerr will even have Dennis Schroder running point guard for Golden State thanks to a proactive pre-Christmas trade.</p><p>Stephen Curry and Ja Morant represent the clash of generations the NBA has been looking to hype. This is the kind of regular-season clash that deserves NFL Thursday Night Football-level promotion from NBA headquarters.</p><p>Both are leading teams that should be making appearances in the NBA Playoffs. Getting NBA MVP consideration would not be a surprise, and fans will speak to their marketability with NBA All-Star Game votes.</p><p>A pair of million-dollar smile stars and organizations headed in different directions are just angles to sell the league’s fans.</p><p>Golden State (14-11) is 2-8 in its last 10 games, while Memphis (18-9) is 8-2, and the two franchises have effectively swapped spots in the standings. Morant is slowly replacing the old guard led by Curry and LeBron James thanks to a little help from Father Time.</p><p>Other games will be missing stars or involve lottery teams lacking talent in general. All things considered, the NBA should be over-marketing what might be one of the last truly competitive matchups between two generational talents. Instead, the game will not be seen nationally on NBATV, ESPN, or TNT.</p><h2>Grizzlies getting ready for new-look Warriors</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Ja-Morant-Stephen-Curry-Grizzlies-Warriors-talking.jpg"><figcaption>Kyle Terada-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>This is not quite the Grit and Grind Grizzlies of old, but those definitely are not the Splash Brothers Warriors of years past on the opposite bench. Still, both squads play unique styles worthy of attention.</p><p>Finding ways to highlight what is different about each team is just another way to draw in fans of all engagement levels. Expect Stephen Curry to have a counter to whatever it was the Grizzlies used on Nov. 15.</p><p>Taylor Jenkins crafted a defense that held Curry to 13 points on 4-of-9 shooting about a month ago. Since then, Draymond Green now begins games watching from the bench to keep the legs fresh.</p><p>Jonathan Kuminga has done little to impress with a starting role, unfortunately. Age and a lack of support are just two big <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/warriors-news-dennis-schroder-reveals-sons-adorable-reaction-to-trade">reasons why the Warriors traded for Schroder.</a> Propping Curry’s championship window open just a bit longer is obviously a priority, and yet Golden State is again fighting for an NBA Play-In Tournament spot.</p><p>Meanwhile, Ja Morant has been on a tear since returning from a hip injury, and Memphis (2nd) has a 2.5-game cushion over the Nuggets (5th) for a top-four seed.</p><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/grizzlies-news-ja-morant-jaren-jackson-jr-speak-new-minute-allocations-taylor-jenkins-zach-edey">Grizzlies are giving Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, and Jaren Jackson Jr. more on-court time</a> to build chemistry. It’s working out for Taylor Jenkins as Memphis has only three losses since a Nov. 17 win over the Denver Nuggets.</p><p>Breaking down the last seven games played by Curry and Morant shows a <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/traditional?PerMode=Per36&amp;sort=PTS&amp;dir=-1&amp;TeamID=1610612763&amp;LastNGames=9" rel="noopener">line of clear separation.</a> Morant is averaging 28 points, 8.7 assists, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.5 steals/blocks per 36 minutes. The former All-Star is only logging 30.6 minutes a game in this sample, but that will change in the postseason.</p><p>Curry is posting 26.8 points, 7.6 assists, 5.0 rebounds, and a single steal/block per 36 minutes. It would be hard to argue the future first-ballot Hall of Famer is the better player now given the defensive output alone. However, Curry’s 42.1% three-point mark (per game all season) on nearly 13 attempts per game (last seven games) will continue to keep opponents honest.</p><p>This should be one of the more entertaining regular-season games on the schedule. Kerr has been getting Curry more open looks as well considering the season average of only 10 beyond-the-arc attempts per game. Jenkins is running a new offense which even Kerr’s once cutting-edge Warriors and Green must respect. However, Schroder was just stirring up trouble in the FedEx Forum.</p><h2>NBA needs a fan-friendly solution</h2><p>Stephen Curry and Ja Morant are marquee names in a heavyweight title fight. Not many celebrities earn the one-name treatment like Steph and Ja. And Morant was just talking about not liking teams that knock him out of the playoffs? Some fans would sign up for a $2 game-by-game pay-per-view option just for nights like this.</p><p>The NBA on TNT show has a doubleheader so NBATV would not pick up a competing program. The New York Knicks versus Minnesota Timberwolves are both on the fringe of the NBA Finals conversation.</p><p>A Julius Randle for Karl-Anthony Towns trade promo has already been filmed for that nightcap. However, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s NBA Cup hangover game against the injury-ravaged Orlando Magic is in the early spot.</p><p>If the NBA wants to attract more eyeballs to live broadcasts, finding a way to be more flexible in these situations would be a starting point.</p><p>Ownership groups and television partners have to see a benefit in being able to push matchups that make sense instead of sticking with the status quo. It is too long of a season with too many stars and storylines to stay stuck in the old ways of doing things.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Ja Morant’s Grizzlies vs. Stephen Curry’s Warriors deserves TNF hype from NBA

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/grizzlies-news-ja-morant-jaren-jackson-jr-speak-new-minute-allocations-taylor-jenkins-zach-edey');   ga('set', 'title', 'Grizzlies’ Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson sound off on big minutes change');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Grizzlies-Ja-Morant-Jaren-Jackson-Jr.jpg"></figure><h1>Grizzlies’ Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson sound off on big minutes change</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-17T11:59:47-08:00">December 17th, 11:59am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-17T11:59:47-08:00">December 17th, 11:59am</time><address><a>Chris Dodson</a>Chris Dodson is a Memphis Grizzlies beat reporter for ClutchPoints who has also covered the New Orleans Pelicans. He has covered Louisiana high school and college basketball in spurts for over a decade. A basketball lifer from the bayou, his gumbo-stirring form matches his elbow jumper celebrations. Fast enough for varsity hoops, tall enough for a soccer scholarship. He has words and will travel, just not on the court.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Memphis Grizzlies</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Taylor Jenkins was looking at a problem all NBA coaches wished they had during training camp. The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/grizzlies-great-value-trio-nba-sixth-man-of-the-year-candidates-jake-laravia-scotty-pippen-jr-santi-aldama">Memphis Grizzlies had more talent on the bench</a> than minutes available in a game even with GG Jackson in a walking boot. Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/grizzlies-news-zach-edey-injury-update-lakers-clash">Zach Edey being unavailable for week-long stretches</a> created opportunities for Santi Aldama, Jay Huff, and Jaren Jackson Jr. to stand out in different ways. However, getting back into a normal routine built around the Big Three was always the plan.</p><p>Morant, Jackson Jr., and Bane have been logging more minutes lately. The trio got 33+ minutes each in a historic road win over the Boston Celtics (December 7). Jenkins trimmed the workload slightly a week later in a road loss to the Los Angeles Lakers (Dec. 15). The Big Three split the difference in a revenge win at home over the Brooklyn Nets, which is where ClutchPoints <a href="https://twitter.com/DoingItDodson/status/1867799770741584258" rel="noopener">caught up with All-Stars</a> to see how they were adjusting to the new normal.</p><p>“It was great man,” Jackson Jr. admitted. “The more minutes we can get together the more chemistry we are going to build. It does not really matter who is out there but we’ve actually not logged a lot of minutes together in comparison to how long we’ve played together. But I don’t think that has hurt our chemistry or changed anything. I mean, I’m seeing these dudes every day so yeah, chemistry builds in a lot of ways.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Jaren Jackson Jr. postgame:<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GrindCity?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GrindCity</a> <a href="https://t.co/bLATDXCm2v">pic.twitter.com/bLATDXCm2v</a></p><p>— Dodson (@DoingItDodson) <a href="https://twitter.com/DoingItDodson/status/1867799770741584258?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 14, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Morant stuck with <a href="https://x.com/DoingItDodson/status/1867792883665055889" rel="noopener">letting the coaching staff do their job</a> while making sure to be ready for his.</p><p>“(How many minutes we play) is the coach’s decision,” Morant stated. “If we get the win, I’ll feel pretty good but whatever we’ve got to do, whatever Coach and them decide for us, then that is what we do. We just waiting for our number to be called.”</p><p>However, Jaren Jackson Jr. was initially stumped when asked about any new dynamic that has lifted the Grizzlies’ ceiling.</p><p>“I don’t think it’s…I don’t know. That’s a good question,” Jackson Jr. replied. “That’s a great question but I don’t think anything changes. I don’t think anything is different. I think everything stays the same and that’s why we have the success we have. We can’t change because other things are changing.”</p><p>Jay Huff was quick with an answer and had a different perspective. Unlike Jaren Jackson Jr., the reserve big man has seen some changes while stepping in as a crucial rotational piece during Zach Edey’s absence.</p><p>“I think we’ve been gelling a little bit more as a team since the start of the season,” Huff admitted. “Like Coach said, it’s more about doing more of what we do well. Typically, early on we’re finding out what’s working then later on put ourselves in those situations.”</p><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Ja-Morant-jogs-happy.jpg"><figcaption>Kirby Lee-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Still, when it comes to confidence and closing out games, Ja Morant echoed Jenkins after a revenge win over the Nets.</p><p>“(The game) could be tied, we could be down two,” Ja Morant stated. “I’ll never think the game is in question when we are rolling. We’ve won 10 out of 11 (before losing to the Lakers). That tells you what type of team we are right now. The team we are trying to get to, obviously, we don’t want you to think the game is in question. We’ve got to be better in that area, playing 48 minutes. As long as we are staying connected and together, we’ll always feel like the odds are in our favor.”</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Grizzlies’ Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson sound off on big minutes change

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/grizzlies-news-santi-aldama-ja-morant-fired-up-taylor-jenkins-hulk');   ga('set', 'title', 'Grizzlies’ Ja Morant trying to figure out how to bring out teammate’s inner Hulk');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Grizzlies-news-Ja-Morant-trying-to-figure-out-how-to-bring-out-teammates-inner-Hulk.jpg"></figure><h1>Grizzlies’ Ja Morant trying to figure out how to bring out teammate’s inner Hulk</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-17T11:54:01-08:00">December 17th, 11:54am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-17T11:54:01-08:00">December 17th, 11:54am</time><address><a>Chris Dodson</a>Chris Dodson is a Memphis Grizzlies beat reporter for ClutchPoints who has also covered the New Orleans Pelicans. He has covered Louisiana high school and college basketball in spurts for over a decade. A basketball lifer from the bayou, his gumbo-stirring form matches his elbow jumper celebrations. Fast enough for varsity hoops, tall enough for a soccer scholarship. He has words and will travel, just not on the court.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Memphis Grizzlies</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nets-news-jordi-fernandez-ja-morant-direct-message-response-grizzlies-stars-taunts">Memphis Grizzlies (18-9) are starting to get loud</a> about their intentions this season. Ja Morant’s return has coincided with a run up the Western Conference standings. Jaren Jackson Jr. has been rock solid all season, posting All-NBA numbers. Desmond Bane has been bruised up but the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/grizzlies-great-value-trio-nba-sixth-man-of-the-year-candidates-jake-laravia-scotty-pippen-jr-santi-aldama">Grizzlies’ bench has stepped up in a big way.</a> Thanks to some Hulk-like behavior, Santi Aldama has separated himself from the NBA Sixth Man of the Year pack in the process.</p><p>ClutchPoints surveyed the locker room for more information on Aldama after a third-quarter outburst in a home win over the Brooklyn Nets. Morant was searching for a straightforward solution to getting All-Star Aldama every night.</p><p>“I’ve got to find something before the game to make him mad,” Morant joked.</p><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Santi-Aldama-Grizzlies-Lakers.jpg"><figcaption>Kirby Lee-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Someone behind the media scrum quite loudly suggested looking at Las Palmas soccer scores. Coach Taylor Jenkins stuck with compliments after Aldama got into a technical foul-worthy tirade.</p><p>“(Aldama) is a heckuva player,” Jenkins said. “I love the effort, offensively and defensively. We talk about role change all the time. When he gets fired up I want him to channel it well. We had a brief moment where I was like ‘Just channel this well’ and he did it. He was knocking down shots, getting into the paint on the offensive side, and didn’t get distracted by whatever was happening on the floor.”</p><p>“I thought his defense improved…,” added Jenkins. “Overall, I love a competitive, fiery Santi. It’s one of the best versions.”</p><p>Well, <a href="https://twitter.com/DoingItDodson/status/1867792172004901017" rel="noopener">Father knew best apparently</a>.</p><p>“My dad always told me when I’m mad I play my best basketball,” Aldama laughed. “I try to stay even keel but I’m just trying to win all the time. I’m trying to get that fire.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="lt">Santi Aldama postgame:<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GrindCity?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GrindCity</a> <a href="https://t.co/LJ61VgrUYZ">pic.twitter.com/LJ61VgrUYZ</a></p><p>— Dodson (@DoingItDodson) <a href="https://twitter.com/DoingItDodson/status/1867792172004901017?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 14, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>The stats back up that claim. Aldama (26.9 minutes) is averaging 13.2 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 3.2 assists while posting a 61.2% true shooting percentage. The 23-year-old <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/team/1610612763/players-advanced?dir=D&amp;sort=EFG_PCT" rel="noopener">leads the team</a> (min. 21 mpg) in Effective Field Goal percentage (59.5%). It’s career-highs across the board for the Spanish star who is crediting that output to a simplified Grizzlies’ offense with more flow.</p><p>“The playbook we have is simple but it’s really good,” Aldama noted. “It’s more about entries and making reads off of it.”</p><p>As for what the Ja Morant’s Grizzlies can improve over the next few months?</p><p>“It’s chipping in and knowing more execution stuff but what we are doing has been working,” Aldama stated. “But end of end-of-game situations like we had against (the Dallas Mavericks), it’s about controlling the pace. (The Grizzlies) have to stick to the principles.”</p><p>Sticking to the plan is a priority but Santi Aldama’s off-script hustle plays are getting noticed as well.</p><p>“At the end of the day,” Jenkins explained. “our guys love to compete.”</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Grizzlies’ Ja Morant trying to figure out how to bring out teammate’s inner Hulk

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nets-news-jordi-fernandez-ja-morant-direct-message-response-grizzlies-stars-taunts');   ga('set', 'title', 'Nets’ Jordi Fernandez sends Ja Morant direct message in response to Grizzlies star’s taunts');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Nets-news-Jordi-Fernandez-sends-Ja-Morant-direct-message-in-response-to-Grizzlies-stars-taunts.jpg"></figure><h1>Nets’ Jordi Fernandez sends Ja Morant direct message in response to Grizzlies star’s taunts</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-13T21:05:15-08:00">December 13th, 9:05pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-14T07:07:10-08:00">December 14th, 7:07am</time><address><a>Erik Slater</a>Erik Slater is the credentialed Brooklyn Nets beat reporter for ClutchPoints. He's a graduate of Lehigh University and the Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University, as well as a Lehigh Football and Syracuse Football alum.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Brooklyn Nets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Ja Morant was playing mind games with the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night. Regardless of whether his mental gymnastics played a role, the result was <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nets-vs-grizzlies-predictions-odds-pick-12-13-2024">a 135-119 win for the Memphis Grizzlies</a>.</p><p>Morant directed several taunts toward Jordi Fernandez throughout the win. After hitting a buzzer-beater at the end of the first half, the Grizzlies star walked past the Nets head coach and <a href="https://twitter.com/erikslater_/status/1867759027108950367" rel="noopener">shared words while staring him down</a>.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="zxx"><a href="https://t.co/xAZH1z2iJD">pic.twitter.com/xAZH1z2iJD</a></p><p>— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) <a href="https://twitter.com/erikslater_/status/1867759027108950367?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 14, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>He did not receive a technical for the taunt.</p><p>Morant had more to say to the Nets when checking out in the game’s final minutes. He walked away before Dennis Schroder approached Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins. The Nets point guard voiced his displeasure and needed to be held back by Fernandez. Jenkins became highly animated, <a href="https://twitter.com/erikslater_/status/1867778805915594936" rel="noopener">yelling several obscenities</a> toward Schroder and Brooklyn’s bench.</p><p>Morant, Schroder and Jenkins were issued technicals after the altercation.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Yeah, Taylor Jenkins was not pleased with whatever Dennis Schroder had to say… <a href="https://t.co/XEieIccxvN">https://t.co/XEieIccxvN</a> <a href="https://t.co/UrBV5f6A94">pic.twitter.com/UrBV5f6A94</a></p><p>— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) <a href="https://twitter.com/erikslater_/status/1867778805915594936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 14, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Fernandez offered his opinion on Morant’s antics following the loss.</p><p>“I will never speak to other players, and I don’t want other players to speak to me,” he said. “If they want to be nice, obviously, that’s part of the game. If not, I don’t want any interaction. I think it’s disrespectful, and it’s not part of the game. And that’s what we are projecting to everybody else, especially the little ones, is play with respect. [Have] respect for the game, whether you are a superstar or whoever you are.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Jordi Fernandez on his interaction with Ja Morant:</p><p>“I will never speak to other players and I don’t want them to speak to me… I don’t want any interaction. I think it’s disrespectful and it’s not part of the game… Play with respect for the game.” <a href="https://t.co/6XNMfoJ7Rp">pic.twitter.com/6XNMfoJ7Rp</a></p><p>— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) <a href="https://twitter.com/erikslater_/status/1867782068475973767?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 14, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nets-news-dennis-schroder-gives-direct-demand-before-breaking-record">Memphis was 0-2 against Brooklyn</a> this season entering the matchup.</p><h2>Ja Morant at the center of several altercations during Grizzlies win over Nets</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Jordi-Fernandez-and-Ja-Morant.jpg"><figcaption>Petre Thomas-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>When asked about the motivation behind his halftime taunt, Morant said he was attempting to gain a competitive edge.</p><p>“I was trolling, just to get them riled up, and it did,” he said. “I didn’t say nothing crazy. If you look at the video, I was just saying, ‘Yeah.’ If ‘yeah’ is disrespectful or makes you feel some type of way, then hey, so be it.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Ja Morant on his interaction with Jordi Fernandez:</p><p>"I was trolling, just to get them riled up, and I did… I didn't say nothing crazy. If you look at the video, I was just saying 'yeah.' If 'yeah' is disrespectful or makes you feel some type of way, then hey, so be it." <a href="https://t.co/BKhWTvP1Kk">pic.twitter.com/BKhWTvP1Kk</a></p><p>— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) <a href="https://twitter.com/erikslater_/status/1867786954554978727?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 14, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Morant finished with a game-high 28 points, seven rebounds and 10 assists on 10-of-19 shooting. While Fernandez had strong opinions about the Memphis guard’s actions, he was not pleased with Schroder’s decision to respond.</p><p>“Dennis said words to the other coach, and I told him I never want any of my players to talk to the other coach,” he said of the interaction. “That’s not how I want my team to behave… I just don’t want that. I want to compete on the court, to fight on the court. If I have to say words, I’ll say it to the officials or my players, and that’s it. And if somebody does something they’re not supposed to, then somebody has to judge it.”</p><p>Schroder, a 12-year NBA veteran, has emerged as the Nets’ leader this season. He <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/12/13/sports/nets-unravel-in-third-quarter-during-loss-to-grizzlies/" rel="noopener">shared why he felt the need to react</a> to Morant’s taunts.</p><p>“Every time when I see something, I stand up for my people who I play with, who I go to war with every single night, who I get better with every single day and just try to protect them,” Schroder told the New York Post’s Brian Lewis. “I was just trying to protect Jordi at the end of the day. Ja was talking, and I just tried to protect Jordi, see what’s going on. It’s no bad blood. Everybody’s competing. I respect it. But I don’t respect if you win and then you go to the coach’s face. You do that on the court — and I love it on the court. I do it as well — but respect the game when you win. Win with some class. I didn’t appreciate it.”</p><p>Tensions rose throughout the night, with Morant taunting and several Nets, including Fernandez, voicing their displeasures with missed calls. While Fernandez has emphasized that his team cannot get wrapped up in officiating, he said the referees are responsible for controlling the game.</p><p>“That’s the official’s job,” he said. “I can probably not say much about it. I go back to the same thing every time. I want my players to be respected, and the game is gonna be called by three guys, and they have to do their best job to be fair and consistent… Their job is extremely hard, and what we can do is control what we can control.”</p><p>“Today, there were a lot of words said, and I’m not the one judging it. So probably someone else should be asked that question… The officials are the ones who have to see certain things. My job is not to get into any of this.”</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Nets’ Jordi Fernandez sends Ja Morant direct message in response to Grizzlies star’s taunts

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/ja-morant-swarovski-team-up-for-crystal-nike-ja-2');   ga('set', 'title', 'Ja Morant, Swarovski team up for crystal Nike Ja 2');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Ja-Morant-Swarovski-team-up-for-crystal-Nike-Ja-2.jpg"></figure><h1>Ja Morant, Swarovski team up for crystal Nike Ja 2</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-13T11:53:05-08:00">December 13th, 11:53am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-13T11:55:18-08:00">December 13th, 11:55am</time><address><a>Dominik Zawartko</a>Dominik Zawartko is a Michigan State graduate with a degree in Political Science and English. Having previously worked in the nonprofit and legal sectors, he decided to pursue his true love of writing with ClutchPoints. Dominik's hobbies include painting, cooking food, training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and always having a laugh. His main focus areas are UFC coverage and all things sneakers.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Memphis Grizzlies</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>After a rocky start to the new NBA season, the Memphis Grizzlies have gone 9-1 over their last 10 games and are once again firmly in control of the Southwest Division alongside the Houston Rockets. Star Ja Morant has been electric this season and he’s been promoting his Nike brand off the court with his newest signature Nike Ja 2 sneakers. In accordance with the previous season, Morant and Nike will join forces with Swarovski to create a one-of-a-kind sneaker for the young All-Star.</p><p><i><b>Check our <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/sneakers">Sneakers news</a> for more upcoming releases and breaking content!</b></i></p><p>Ja Morant partnered with Austrian-based glass producer <a href="https://www.swarovski.com/en-US/">Swarovski</a> in February 2023 to create an exclusive and dazzling edition of his Nike Ja 1. <a href="https://x.com/_SneakerGuy/status/1651297311845122075">Retailing for over $400</a>, the exclusive sneaker was produced in extremely limited quantities and became almost impossible to acquire at a reasonable price point.</p><p>Following suit with their first partnership, Nike and Swarovski teamed up to create an all-new look for the latest Nike Ja 2. Embossed with their signature crystals, this upcoming release may be even more exclusive than the original.</p><h2>Nike Ja 2 “Swarovski”</h2><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">FIRST LOOK: <a href="https://twitter.com/swarovski?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Swarovski</a> x Nike are dropping a $550 Ja 2 collab ✨ <a href="https://twitter.com/JaMorant?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JaMorant</a></p><p>🗓️ February 14th<br>📝 HV9999-001<br>💵 $550<br>📷 prm.cotd <a href="https://t.co/0RdyWjU1uf">pic.twitter.com/0RdyWjU1uf</a></p><p>— Sole Retriever (@SoleRetriever) <a href="https://twitter.com/SoleRetriever/status/1867604231772926248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 13, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">FIRST LOOK: Swarovski x Nike Ja 2 💠</p><p>RELEASE INFO: <a href="https://t.co/JXrbqCZYxo">https://t.co/JXrbqCZYxo</a> <a href="https://t.co/smhXSPeaZb">pic.twitter.com/smhXSPeaZb</a></p><p>— Sneaker Bar Detroit (@SBDetroit) <a href="https://twitter.com/SBDetroit/status/1867613747944018356?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 13, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><p>The newest offering from Nike and Swarovski will be based in an all-black silhouette of the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/ja-morant-nike-release-new-nike-ja-2-colorways">Nike Ja 2</a>. Complete with an updated outsole and comfort cushioning throughout the uppers, the Nike Ja 2 is made to withstand all the explosive movements of Ja Morant’s generational talent on the court. The hallmark feature are the tears along the upper, which have been embossed with hundreds of iconic Swarovski crystals to achieve a luxury look. We’re not sure whether Ja Morant will be rocking these in an NBA game, but we wouldn’t put the idea past him as he’s been known to have some of the flashier footwear in the NBA.</p><p>The Swarovski x Nike Ja 2 is expected to release on February 14, 2025 and will come with a retail tag of $550. While the shoes may serve more as a collector’s piece, they’re certainly a one-of-a-kind sneaker that any Ja Morant fan would be lucky to get their hands on.</p><p>What do you think of this latest collaboration? Is $550 too much for a sneaker in your opinion?</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Ja Morant, Swarovski team up for crystal Nike Ja 2

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/grizzlies-news-encouraging-zach-edey-gg-jackson-ja-morant-injury-updates-nets');   ga('set', 'title', 'Grizzlies get encouraging Ja Morant, Zach Edey injury updates');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Grizzlies-news-Memphis-gets-encouraging-Zach-Edey-GG-Jackson-injury-updates.jpg"></figure><h1>Grizzlies get encouraging Ja Morant, Zach Edey injury updates</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-12T18:33:53-08:00">December 12th, 6:33pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-12T18:49:31-08:00">December 12th, 6:49pm</time><address><a>Chris Dodson</a>Chris Dodson is a Memphis Grizzlies beat reporter for ClutchPoints who has also covered the New Orleans Pelicans. He has covered Louisiana high school and college basketball in spurts for over a decade. A basketball lifer from the bayou, his gumbo-stirring form matches his elbow jumper celebrations. Fast enough for varsity hoops, tall enough for a soccer scholarship. He has words and will travel, just not on the court.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Memphis Grizzlies</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Everyone has a wish list going into the holiday season, and the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/grizzlies-news-taylor-jenkins-desmond-bane-jaren-jackson-jr-gain-steam-close-2024-despite-ja-morant-injury-status">looking-mighty-nice Memphis Grizzlies</a> got a huge injury-report-related gift. Zach Edey (left ankle sprain) and GG Jackson (right fifth metatarsal repair) were seen on the practice court, and the rookie was even upgraded to doubtful a day before hosting the Brooklyn Nets. The team has <a href="https://x.com/GrizzliesPR/status/1867343717016723494" rel="noopener">officially ruled out</a> Jackson and Vince Williams Jr. (right ankle sprain). Just <a href="https://x.com/DrewHill_DM/status/1866969022970909178" rel="noopener">being spotted on the hardwood</a> is an encouraging sign, especially with Ja Morant and Desmond Bane not being mentioned at all.</p><p>Morant and Bane have been missing time in spurts all season, including the last game, but an NBA Cup break. Jackson was in a walking boot during Media Day and has yet to log a minute this season. Edey has been out for 11 games and counting after taking a knock on November 17 versus the Denver Nuggets. The seven-footer was averaging 11.1 points and 6.9 rebounds while shooting 61.0% from the floor before the injury.</p><p>Edey’s presence would greatly help Ja Morant and Desmond Bane in getting some revenge on the Nets. Bane missed Brooklyn’s first visit to Beale Street, which the Grizzlies (17-8) lost 106-104. The rookie led Memphis with 25 points and 12 rebounds, tied with Morant (25 points, nine assists) on points back on November 4. Taylor Jenkins, injuries, and a 2-3 record to start the season had the FedEx Forum fans in a frenzy.</p><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Zach-Edey-Grizzlies-hook-shot.jpg"><figcaption>Petre Thomas-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>It’s been quite a turnaround since then, thanks to the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/grizzlies-great-value-trio-nba-sixth-man-of-the-year-candidates-jake-laravia-scotty-pippen-jr-santi-aldama">Grizzlies’ three Sixth Man of the Year candidates.</a> Both Morant and Bane were out for a 140-112 road win over the Washington Wizards, for instance. That win came 24 hours after knocking off the Boston Celtics. Memphis has a 15-5 record since letting the Nets slip away.</p><p>Neither Morant nor Bane were listed on the injury report at all on November 12. It’s a wonder what four days off can do for a squad’s health. The Grizzlies will need to look sharp against the Nets, though, with or without Edey. A cross-country trip to battle LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers (Dec. 15) was the other NBA Cup fill-in game.</p><p>Thankfully, the Grizzlies get another three days off before facing Stephen Curry’s Golden State Warriors. Perhaps Edey will be back in the rotations by then. Jackson’s ramp-up will likely take a little longer, going by the team’s recent updates. However, there are encouraging signs pointing to a <a href="https://x.com/GrizzliesPR/status/1864446397530960267" rel="noopener">return coming before Valentine’s Day</a> for the 2024 All-Rookie Team reserve.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Grizzlies get encouraging Ja Morant, Zach Edey injury updates

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/pelicans-news-sources-brandon-ingram-getting-anthony-edwards-ja-morant-level-contract-extension');   ga('set', 'title', 'Sources: Why Pelicans Brandon Ingram not getting Anthony Edwards, Ja Morant level deal');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Sources-Why-Pelicans-Brandon-Ingram-not-getting-Anthony-Edwards-Ja-Morant-level-deal.jpg"></figure><h1>Sources: Why Pelicans Brandon Ingram not getting Anthony Edwards, Ja Morant level deal</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-10T10:11:50-08:00">December 10th, 10:11am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-10T10:11:50-08:00">December 10th, 10:11am</time><address><a>Chris Dodson</a>Chris Dodson is a Memphis Grizzlies beat reporter for ClutchPoints who has also covered the New Orleans Pelicans. He has covered Louisiana high school and college basketball in spurts for over a decade. A basketball lifer from the bayou, his gumbo-stirring form matches his elbow jumper celebrations. Fast enough for varsity hoops, tall enough for a soccer scholarship. He has words and will travel, just not on the court.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Memphis Grizzlies</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The NBA’s player acquisition markets are constantly shifting around new CBA parameters, the supply of talent, and the demand from contenders to add another All-Star piece. Only game-changing, globally marketable stars are truly worth a full max-level deal. That principle is why the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/pelicans-news-evp-david-griffin-stand-pat-despite-zion-williamson-brandon-ingram-injuries">market has settled on New Orleans Pelicans star Brandon Ingram.</a> Though eligible, Ingram is facing long odds when it comes to inking a contract extension on par with Anthony Edwards and Ja Morant.</p><p>Shams Charania (ESPN) reports Ingram’s <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/42878390/shams-charania-nba-pass-trade-intel-jimmy-butler-brandon-ingram-golden-state-warriors" rel="noopener">new agents are still asking</a> about a full five-year, $50 million-a-season type of contract structure. One league source laughed at that initial asking price when talking with ClutchPoints recently. Front offices are being cautious given the new CBA team building blueprints after all.</p><p>“If Ja Morant is making $36 million, BI can’t be getting $50 (million),” the source stated. “That’s ANT money.”</p><p>Left implied: Ingram is not on the same All-NBA level as Morant or Edwards and the next contract will make that clear. A four-year, $135 million deal might look insulting but there is no new injection of money coming this summer. Only two or three teams will have cap space and those front offices are clearing the books for rebuilds. Ingram reportedly wants to find a competitive situation at the next stop.</p><p>Ingram will need to compromise in a big way. Ja Morant’s five-year, $197 million deal ends at his age-28 season with a $44.8 million cap hit. The Memphis Grizzlies are getting a bargain with this season’s $36.7 million price. Comparatively, Anthony Edwards will make $55 million as a 27-year-old before hitting unrestricted free agency. He is<a href="https://www.spotrac.com/nba/contracts/_/sort/average" rel="noopener"> 21st on the AAV charts this season</a>, tied with Tyrese Haliburton. Morant is 42nd, tied with Zion Williamson.</p><p>Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($35.8 million AAV) is 50th; Aaron Gordon ($34.5 million) 55th. De’Aaron Fox and Donovan Mitchell are tied for 58th but round out the top 60 at $32 million. A healthy 27-year-old Ingram might have gotten that this summer by showing a little flexibility in negotiations but the market is cratering before Christmas Day.</p><h2><b>Pelicans, Brandon Ingram’s short-term options</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Brandon-Ingram-Anthony-Edwards.jpg"><figcaption>Stephen Lew-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>A short-term two-year deal worth $70 million with a third-year option keeps Ingram near his current wages while waiting out the market. Wanting north of $200 million over four years had teams like the Utah Jazz walking away from Ingram negotiations this summer. The Jazz will always have difficulty drawing in free agents but still balked at BI’s demands. Utah is a lottery team worried about Ingram’s questionable clutch shooting, an affinity for long two-pointers over threes, and injury history.</p><p>That performance against Lu Dort in the Pelicans’ last postseason appearance still lingers, and leaves most contenders weary. Sure, Ingram was averaging 22.2 points on 46.5% from the floor (37.4%3PA), 5.6 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game in 18 starts. However, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/pelicans-news-brandon-ingram-pelicans-heart-and-soul-suns-takedown">Pelicans’ ‘heart and soul’</a> will now be on the sidelines indefinitely with a high ankle sprain.</p><p>All things considered, it’s hard to see Brandon Ingram getting a pay raise much less $50 million per season any time soon. Finding the 27-year-old former All-Star reserve a new home has been hard enough. That is why the Pelicans might have to stand pat until this summer and Ingram might have to settle for 60% of the current asking price. Not many in the gym seem to see a reason to pay more in this market.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Sources: Why Pelicans Brandon Ingram not getting Anthony Edwards, Ja Morant level deal

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/grizzlies-news-ja-morant-explains-wild-dunk-claiming-wasnt-dunking-anymore');   ga('set', 'title', 'Grizzlies’ Ja Morant explains wild dunk after claiming he wasn’t dunking anymore');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Grizzlies-news-Ja-Morant-explains-wild-dunk-after-claiming-he-wasnt-dunking-anymore.jpg"></figure><h1>Grizzlies’ Ja Morant explains wild dunk after claiming he wasn’t dunking anymore</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-08T07:12:21-08:00">December 8th, 7:12am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-08T07:12:21-08:00">December 8th, 7:12am</time><address><a>Malik Brown</a>Malik Brown is a multimedia reporter based in Atlanta who covers the Hawks and Dream for ClutchPoints. Malik has worked in entertainment and sports, and he specializes in the NBA and NFL.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Memphis Grizzlies</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>During the third quarter of the game between the Memphis Grizzlies and Boston Celtics, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/grizzlies-news-ja-morant-goes-viral-reverse-dunk-on-celtics-kristaps-porzingis">Ja Morant elevated for a reverse dunk</a> on Kristaps Porzingis that surprised a lot of people. The reason people may have been surprised was because a few days ago, Morant told the media he was done dunking.</p><p>So the bug question is, what led to Morant pulling out a dunk this time? Well, he <a href="https://x.com/grindcitymedia/status/1865605495412687250" rel="noopener">had an answer</a> for everybody after the game.</p><p>“I felt like if I didn’t, Porzingis was going to block it,” Morant said. “I really wanted to go to the reverse, but hey, another one.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">ja morant dunked tonight. </p><p>don't worry, he explained himself 😂 <a href="https://t.co/9YSw3tbE65">pic.twitter.com/9YSw3tbE65</a></p><p>— Grind City Media (@grindcitymedia) <a href="https://twitter.com/grindcitymedia/status/1865605495412687250?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>If that was the case, then we’ll be seeing plenty more dunks from Morant in the future because people are going to want to block his shot, especially if they’re anticipating a layup.</p><h2>Ja Morant explains why he’s done dunking</h2><p>After their game against the Dallas Mavericks during the week, Ja Morant was on a fastbreak, but instead of doing a highlight reel dunk, he just went up for a simple two-handed flush. After the game, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/grizzlies-news-ja-morant-reveals-dead-serious-ditching-dunking">Morant explained why he didn’t decide to dunk.</a></p><p>“I’m not trying to dunk at all,” Morant said after the game via ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. “Y’all think I’m lying. I’m dead serious.</p><p>“Sometimes I get knocked out the air and [a foul] don’t get called, and now I’m out longer than what I’m supposed to be. Sometimes, the foul might get called; I still hit the floor, but after the game, you might feel that little fall. So I just pick and choose, man. Hey, two points is two points. I get it done. That’s all that matters.”</p><p>Morant has suffered a few injuries over the past two seasons that have kept him out for a long period of time, so if it’s in his best interest to stop dunking all the time, it makes sense.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

2024-25 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
21.3	4.7	7.9	0.4	1.2

2024-25 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
21.3	4.7	7.9	0.4	1.2

Ja Morant news

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