Grizzlies’ Morant hits game-winning hit in first game back against Pelicans – NBC 5 Dallas vs. Fort Worth

With seconds left, Morant found himself one-on-one with Pelicans standout defender Herbert Jones. Morant spun and bounced toward the rim, but help defenseman Dyson Daniels arrived too late.

The game was sensational for Morant, scoring 34 points on 12-of-24 shooting with eight assists, six rebounds, two steals, and one block in 35 minutes. He missed all five of his 3-point attempts, but made 10 of 12 from the foul line.

Brandon Ingram led the Pelicans with 34 points on 11-of-18 shooting, and the Grizzlies fell behind by 24 points after falling behind 39-16 in the second quarter. Zion Williamson played just 25 minutes and had 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting, four assists and three rebounds.

Morant, who was the No. 2 overall pick in 2019 and went on to win Rookie of the Year, has appeared in a total of 33 games since he was first caught firing a gun on a social media livestream on March 4. He had been suspended. A few weeks later he received a similar punishment again. , ultimately leading to a long outage.

Tuesday’s win improved the Grizzlies to 7-19, but Morant’s suspension and injuries to several key players dealt a serious blow to a expected West Division contender early on.

Morant and others will look to keep the momentum going Thursday when Memphis faces the Indiana Pacers.