Grizzlies guard Ja Morant reminded everyone, just in case his career afternoon was not enough. 

“If anybody knows me, they know that every time I step on the floor I’m going to give it my all,” he said. 

But Saturday, even everything he had to give came up just a little bit short. The 21-year-old rookie was noble in defeat. 

The Trail Blazers beat the Grizzlies, 126-122, in the NBA’s playoff play-in Saturday, spoiling a career-high 35 points from Morant in a performance that was equal parts heartbreaking and hopeful in Memphis. 

Ja Morant reveals he has fractured thumb after season-ending loss

The Grizzlies’ season is over, but because of Morant, they could have a playoff contender for a long time. 

“He’s a hell of a player,” Portland guard and NBA bubble MVP Damian Lillard said after the game. “ … That’s why he’s a star already as a rookie, because of what he is capable of. I’m just happy we could overcome that.”

That should mean a lot coming from a star like Lillard, an out-of-the-mud, mid-major point guard (Weber State) who years ago was on the same trajectory as Morant. 

It might be “Dame Time” right now, but soon it could be Morant’s moment.

“The one thing I love about him is that he’s a true warrior,” Memphis big man Jonas Valanciunas said. “He’s not trying to find an excuse, he’s trying to give everything on the court.”

The excuse was there if he wanted to use it. Morant revealed after the loss that he had played the past four games with a fractured thumb. Not once did he appear on an injury report. 

“Warrior,” the point guard tweeted after the game. 

But Portland has a few of those, too, including guard CJ McCollum, who hit two clutch shots in the final three minutes that put the scrappy Grizzlies away. 

McCollum was playing with a fractured vertebra in his back.

“I can say that I’m disappointed with losing,” Morant said. “But the positive side, we know we are right there. We are just some games away.”

Grizzlies display valiant effort, but time has come to leave the bubble

The Blazers were the more experienced group Saturday, but not entirely the better team.

They charged ahead to a 16-point advantage in the first 10 minutes with stingy defense and consistent trips to the free-throw line. They scored 14 of their 31 first-quarter points from there, while Memphis went to the line just once in the quarter.

Surprisingly, Lillard, who averaged more than 50 points in his past three games, was not the player to lead his team’s run to take control. It was big man Jusuf Nurkic, playing inspired after his grandmother passed away overnight from COVID-19, who had 15 points and 17 rebounds in the first half.

With Lillard — and all of the attention he draws defensively — on the bench to begin the second quarter, the Grizzlies raced all the way back with a 15-2 run to grab the lead. Once the superstar checked back in, he immediately drained two 3-pointers to pull the Blazers back in front and send the game into a frenetic pace.

“That’s why he’s an elite player,” Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said. “Recently he’s been taking the shots and getting to the free-throw line, but tonight it was being a playmaker and setting up his teammates. Credit to them for making the plays.” 

Portland led by six at halftime, but the two teams were nearly tied on the stat sheet in field goal percentage, rebounding, turnovers and 3-point makes.

Then the Grizzlies let their young superstar take over.

In a 14-minute stretch, Morant scored 16 points and had six assists to push them to a five-point lead to start the final quarter. He capped his third-quarter outburst with an emphatic fast-break dunk and a spectacular no-look tip pass on a loose ball that found teammate Brandon Clarke in the corner for a wide-open 3.

It was exactly the herculean effort Memphis needed from the soon-to-be rookie of the year, but a little bit short of perfection. His lone blemish on the stat sheet was eight turnovers. 

“I feel like now I know what it takes (to make the playoffs),” Morant said. “ ... I learned a lot in the amount of games I played this whole season. People try to put a lot of pressure on me, but I’m a rookie. I just turned 21 a couple days ago. At this point, I’m still learning.”

As soon as the final buzzer sounded, Morant was met with hugs from McCollum and Lillard. 

Jonas Valanciunas also helped carry Memphis offensively with 22 points and 17 rebounds. Dillon Brooks and Clarke each scored 20.

“The bubble is going to be (remembered as) one of those first experiences as a head coach, with a young team and a great first season,” Jenkins said. 

“What we can take away from this is that we’re close, but we have a lot of work to do. We put ourselves in a great spot for the future, and that’s only going to motivate us even more in the coming days.”

The win means Portland advances to the first round of the NBA playoffs to take on LeBron James and Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday.

“It’s raw right now, but I’m going to be able to sleep and live well this (fall) despite the tough loss, knowing that we put in so much work and we were that close,” Jenkins said. “I have a smile on my face going home because the first words these guys said when we got in the locker room was, ‘We have a lot of work to do.' That was from their mouths, before I even spoke.”