Ja Morant is no stranger to highlight reel dunks throughout his NBA career. Posterizing helpless defenders has become something of a signature play. Midway through the first quarter of Tuesday’s game between the Portland Trail Blazers and Memphis Grizzlies, Morant added another high-flying slam to the career tally.
He weaved around a screen from Xavier Tillman, veered toward the paint and exploded over Drew Eubanks and Shaedon Sharpe, neither of whom stood a legitimate chance at stopping him. Afterward, he made sure to let the crowd know about his big dunk.
The key factor there is Morant’s change of direction and immediate explosion off the ground. Eubanks can’t match those traits or come close to doing so. At that point, the Grizzlies were practically guaranteed two points. While the play itself is the star of the sequence, the photos are pretty dang wonderful as well.
Alongisde Eubanks, the other victim of Morant’s springboard slam was Sharpe, who promptly responded with a bouncy dunk of his own on the very next possession. The rookie wing cut inside, took off from well outside the restricted area, cocked the ball back to nearly parallel with his head and powered home the dunk. Memphis evidently didn’t want for him to match Morant’s poster, so nobody dared contest him.
Look, if the Grizzlies and Blazers just want the rest of the game to be Morant and Sharpe trading eye-popping dunks, I wouldn’t object. In fact, I’d encourage it. Let’s get on that, ASAP. Thanks.
