The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 111-101, on Saturday night to take a 2-1 series lead. The Lakers jumped out to a huge lead in the first half and held on as Ja Morant came alive in the fourth quarter, scoring 22 straight points for Memphis. Morant’s final line was spectacular in a losing effort. He shot 13-of-26 from the field, 6-of-10 from three and 13-of-14 at the free throw line. Just an incredible display considering he was a game-time decision with an injury to his shooting hand.
After the game LeBron James and Anthony Davis what they could do next game to stop Ja Morant replicating that performance in Game 4. LeBron’s response was that you really can’t if Morant shoots that well.
“That boy is good… When great players get it going, there’s nothing that you can do. You can run off 20, you can run off 30, you can run off, I don’t know, 29 out of 30. You can’t stop it.”LeBron James on Ja Morant scoring 22 straight in the 4th quarterpic.twitter.com/JO7hN35X9c
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) April 23, 2023
“When great players get it going, there’s nothing that you can do. You can run of 20. You can run off 30. You can run off, you know, I don’t know, 29 out of 30. You can’t stop it.”
What a specific reference that is. Turns out LeBron James once did exactly that, scoring 29 of the Cleveland Cavaliers final 30 points in Game 5 of the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals, including 25 straight.
LeBron was just 22 at the time, playing in his fourth season. Morant is slightly older, turning 24 this summer, but is also in his fourth year. Clearly, this was a special performance if that’s the kind of memory it conjures for LeBron.
