Ja Morant after Grizzlies take out Lakers — ‘I don’t like them’

Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant had a little extra motivation heading into Wednesday night’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers, and he made it clear why.

“I don’t like them,” Morant said after scoring 20 points in a 131-114 win at FedExForum. “They knocked me out of the playoffs. And last year we had a game and they came here and hit it on our home floor when I was in street clothes. I wasn’t tonight.”

Morant played just 24 minutes and left in the third quarter with a right hamstring injury. The Grizzlies did not have an update after the game.

Wednesday’s meeting was the first between the two teams since the penultimate game of the 2023-24 regular season, when James capped a 37-point performance with a breakaway dunk in the final seconds of a 123-120 victory at Memphis. Morant missed that game after suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in January. The previous year, the Lakers upset the Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs, knocking them out in six games.

Morant hasn’t forgotten that, and he showed it Wednesday night, especially against James.

Near the end of the first half, Morant and James got down to business and traded baskets, each making the “too little” gesture after scoring in the game. Morant was given a technical foul at one point in the game as the crowd grew louder with each basket. A good representation of Lakers fans balanced out the jubilant Grizzlies faithful.

There was a hook by Morant and a subsequent free throw for a three-point play with 1:24 left in the half. Then James made an 8-foot jumper 20 seconds later. Another layup by James was followed seven seconds later by another jumper by Morant. That basket so fired up Morant that he earned the technical.

“I think I did it ‘too small’ against someone who was too small,” Morant said afterward. “(James) came back and did it with respect. …He did it and I’m not backing down from anybody. I don’t care who you are.

“My job was just to come back. I got my bucket and I set the tone. My teammates fed off that and you see what happens. Top dog in our league. You take the top dog out, who do you fear otherwise?”

James put the exchange with Morant in the category of mutual respect — just two of the league’s top players doing their best to be better than the other.

“Just two guys from the inner city who love to compete,” said James, who had a game-high 39 points to go with seven rebounds and six assists. “That’s how we all grew up, playing on the blacktop, playing outside, competing at a high level when there were no cameras around.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.