Morant makes history in Portland, as Memphis moves to 30-28

History again for Ja Morant.

The former Murray State Racer and current Memphis Grizzlies second-year point guard posted 33 points on 11-for-17 from the floor and 10-for-12 from the stripe in a 130-128 Friday night win at Portland — adding 13 assists and five rebounds along the way.

But what etched him in the record books, however, was his zero turnovers in 36 minutes.

It’s just the second time this season he hasn’t committed an error, and it’s just the third time in NBA history that a player scored 30-plus points with 10-plus assists and no mistakes while shooting 60% or better from the floor (per @GrizzliesPR).

The other two times?

• Dec. 28, 1989: Utah Jazz point guard John Stockton scored 33 points on 12-for-14 shooting from the floor, 2-for-2 shooting from the arc and 7-for-8 shooting from the stripe in a 113-109 win over the Portland Trailblazers. He’d add 15 assists with five rebounds and two steals in 41 minutes, as he and Karl Malone pushed back Clyde Drexler, Terry Porter, Cliff Robinson and a rookie Drazen Petrovic to move to 18-9 on the year.
• Jan. 7, 2008: Golden State Warriors point guard Baron Davis scored 34 points on 11-for-18 shooting from the floor, 3-for-7 shooting from the arc and 9-for-10 shooting from the stripe in a 130-121 win over the San Antonio Spurs. He’d notch 14 assists with six rebounds and one steal in 48 minutes, alongside strong efforts from Monta Ellis, Stephen Jackson, Matt Barnes, Mickael Pietrus and Kelenna Azubuike to thwart Tony Parker, Michael Finley, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili and advance to 20-15 on the season.

Already the franchise’s record-holder of 30-point, 10-assist games, this was Morant’s fourth such effort this season, and certainly needed after Wednesday’s 117-105 loss to the resting Los Angeles Clippers.

For the month of April, Morant is now averaging 18.9 points, 7.9 assists and 4.9 rebounds per game, while shooting 49.2% from the field, 42.0% from the arc and 63.5% from the stripe. He’s made at least one 3-pointer in 10 of the last 13 games, and the Grizzlies are 8-5 in the stretch while still in hot pursuit of the Western Conference No. 6 seed.

Perhaps the biggest development this month has been the return of three-year veteran forward Jaren Jackson Jr., who had 23 points on 10-for-14 shooting in Friday’s victory, in what was just his second game back on the floor after missing the first 2/3 of the year following off-season surgery (torn meniscus; left knee).

“As far as with me; you know how I like getting downhill. As of late, I’ve been shooting the ball pretty well, so I feel like — you know — I’ve earned the respect from a lot of teams to go over on screens now, and once I attack downhill, my goal is to just read his man. If he tries to get back to Jaren (Jackson), I know I have a layup. If he stays, I know Jaren is there in the pocket or for a pocket three. It’s just playing cat-and-mouse with defenders, and when I pass him the ball, I just let him do what he does. But I’m always preaching to him to play with confidence.”

Memphis point guard Ja Morant, during Friday’s postgame with Grizzlies media

It’s been a mostly strong month for the Grizzlies, who still look poised to make the playoffs or the play-in at 30-28. Close losses to the New York Knicks, Indiana Pacers, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas Mavericks in the last three weeks don’t seem as detrimental, yet, considering all five teams are either locked in or are on the brink of a 2021 NBA playoff berth.

“..We can play with the top teams in this league,” Morant noted to Memphis media after the 139-137 2OT loss to Denver on April 19, following his 36/12/8 line. “Same thing. I’m not saying that we lacked that confidence and never thought we could, but this just proved to us that we can compete with the best. We’ve just got to go and continue to play hard. There’s some small stuff that we could’ve fixed in that fourth [quarter], and first and second overtime, that probably would’ve helped us win. But we can’t just put it on one thing. I don’t know how many minutes we played, but we have to play every minute of that game.”