Ja Morant downplayed it as much as he could. 

He shrugged it off as any other play. He said the matchup was nothing special to him. 

But inside FedExForum on Tuesday night, everyone who was watching the Grizzlies’ 106-98 win over the Spurs realized that this experience was unlike a normal night in the association. 

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On one side was a 6-foot-2 point guard, already established as a superstar and an electrifying talent. On the other side was a 7-foot-4 rookie Victor Wembanyama — an entire foot taller than Morant — who looks certain to be one of the best players in the league one day. 

And not one, not two, but three (and maybe kind of four) times, everyone watched with anticipation as they went toe-to-toe. 

But, really, this night was about one moment. It was the moment Morant was determined to disparage as any ol’ play. But it was spectacular. 

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Morant caught the ball as he raced down the sideline in the fourth quarter, he crossed over when he hit the edge of the lane, then he rose with two hands, soaring to the opposite side of the rim and slamming on the league’s tallest blossoming star. 

The bench went wild. The crowd erupted with noise. It was what everyone had been waiting to see all night.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, HE GOT HIM ?? @JaMorant pic.twitter.com/xJUHHpUnJk

— Bally Sports: Grizzlies (@GrizzOnBally) January 3, 2024

Well, everyone except for Morant. 

“I didn’t wake up like, ‘Yeah, (I’m going to dunk on Wembanyama),’ ” Morant said. “I’m not trying to dunk on people like I used to. 

“Just get a bucket, man. I’m trying to win.”

We can all be inclined to believe him. Except when Morant slammed it, it didn’t look that way. 

“That was a rim grazer,” Morant said. “I feel like that’s your first little high school dunk right there. You put the ball over the rim and hang on the rim. My pops would call that a hard layup.”

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And then Morant finally conceded, just a little bit. 

“I’ll take it though,” he said. “That’s what everybody wanted. That’s my late Christmas gift, my happy new year gift.”

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The scare

The timing of Morant’s dunk couldn’t have come more perfectly. It let everyone know he was going to be just fine. 

Less than an hour earlier, it looked like the Grizzlies season was hanging in the air.

Just seconds before halftime, Morant drove in the lane and slipped as the Spurs tried to collapse on defense. He banged his knee hard on the floor, giving some Memphis fans flashbacks of what happened to center Steven Adams a season ago. 

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Morant stayed down on the floor for a few seconds before getting up and trying to walk back to the bench. He dropped again, this time feeling against the side of his knee. 

A team trainer and Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins walked over to make sure he was O.K. After about a minute, Morant got to his feet again and limped off the court and into the locker room. 

A look of concern washed over the Memphis crowd, which was forced to agonize as they waited to see if he would be available in the second half.

Then, collectively, everyone exhaled. 

Morant was the last of the Grizzlies to come out of the locker room, but he appeared down the tunnel with his uniform on and his bright orange Ja 1 shoes still on his feet.

He walked past the fans waiting in the hallway, made it to the court and began to warm up.

He was going to be OK. 

It turns out it was a collection of blows that were the source of his pain. 

“It was hurting,” Morant said. “It was like three or four times when (Bismack Biyombo) was setting screens and they were sticking their knee out. I kept running into them knee-to-knee on both sides. 

“Any hooper knows that don’t feel good.”

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Morant vs. Wembanyama, part one and two

Tuesday was the first time Morant and Wembanyama had ever squared off. 

Wembanyama, who boasts an 8-foot wingspan, blocked eight shots in the first matchup between the two teams earlier this season. 

But that was before Morant returned. 

As Spurs coach Gregg Popovich noted before the game, Memphis is not the same team with their superstar point guard driving to the basket. 

It took only a few minutes for the crowd to get what they came to see, a one-on-one isolation look between the point guard and the big man. 

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Morant danced around the perimeter with the ball, used his speed to blow right past him and was ... blocked at the rim. 

Those arms are long. 

Ja Morant tried to drive on Victor Wembanyama & he said NOPE! ? pic.twitter.com/hNGfuXHVZQ

— NBA Buzz (@OfficialNBABuzz) January 3, 2024

But fortunately for Morant, he didn’t have to wait long for the sequel. 

Again, the crowd buzzed with anticipation as his Grizzlies teammates cleared the runway by moving to the corner in the middle of the second quarter. 

Again Morant danced on the perimeter, but this time Wembanyama flinched back. Instead of driving, the Grizzlies star popped a 3-pointer and drilled it. 

Gave him a little space and BANGO?? @JaMorant pic.twitter.com/EdgyvJDp7L

— Bally Sports: Grizzlies (@GrizzOnBally) January 3, 2024

The future of the NBA; It was right before the eyes of those at FedExForum and watching on television. 

“Wemby, he’s going to be a great player for a long time in this league,” Grizzlies guard Luke Kennard said. “He brings a crowd. People come to watch him, and they come to watch Ja, too.

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“When you get a matchup like that, that’s big for the NBA. Those two guys are going to be the faces and a big part of the NBA for a long time. For me, it’s pretty cool to watch. I might be on the court, but to watch them go at it is fun.”

Needing a push

With both teams struggling to score, it was Desmond Bane who propelled the Grizzlies in front during the second half. 

Bane accounted for 77.3% of the team’s points (12 points, two assists, five points created from assists) during a 19-6 run that pushed the Grizzlies in front by 12. 

He scored at all three levels, dropping in two 3-pointers, dashing for two layups and pulling up for a midrange jumper. 

After a week of struggles, the Grizzlies were beginning to look comfortable.

They scored 59 points in the second half after scoring only 47 in the first. They won the battle on the glass, too, 46-40.

Jaren Jackson Jr. had seven boards and Biyombo snagged eight.

They also received solid play off the bench, including 12 points from Kennard and 13 points from Santi Aldama.

That’s all great news for Memphis. 

That’s not what people will be talking about on Wednesday. 

The dunk, and the layup

Before Morant took over the game, there was the layup. While not an isolation situation, he drove into the lane and met Wembanyama at the rim, switching hands in mid-air to get around his outstretched arm and finish the shot. 

It was a striking play, but it wasn’t the dunk. 

That finish tho ?? @JaMorant pic.twitter.com/4hwcjOcrQG

— Bally Sports: Grizzlies (@GrizzOnBally) January 3, 2024

When Morant plays the Spurs, he dunks. 

Twice, he put 7-footer Jakob Poetl on a poster. Poetl has since been shipped out to Toronto (who convenient plays the Grizzlies on Wednesday). 

So now it’s Wembanyama, a more difficult challenge, purely because of size. 

Everyone wanted to see Morant try it, but no one wanted to tell him to go for it. 

“I didn’t say nothing to him about it,” Jackson said. “I figured he was going to hear that enough. I figured I might jinx it. 

“It’s funny though, because we kind of saw it coming. We see his moves more than our opponents do. So it was like, ‘Oh, yep, here it is.’ ”

With Morant, it comes that easy. Perhaps that’s why he sees it as no big deal. 

But that’s not what his teammates thought. 

Well, all his teammates but one. 

“I told Ja afterward that I would have blocked it,” Biyombo joked. 

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Morant followed the dunk by completing a sequence that pulled the Grizzlies in front by 18. 

On the following possession, he stepped into a 3-pointer and drilled it. The possession after that, he tossed up a no-look lob from his hip to Aldama who went reverse on the alley-oop slam. 

BREAK THE JA-GGLES OUT ?? @JaMorant pic.twitter.com/AdHKhK42Ve

— Bally Sports: Grizzlies (@GrizzOnBally) January 3, 2024

“He’s a good player,” Wembanyama said of Morant. “He’s very small so it’s hard to catch up to him. He’s very fast. Yeah, just another great player that I see every night in the NBA. Everyone has a franchise player like this who is causing problems.”

Which, of course, is only partially true.

Not everyone has a point guard that can dunk on 7-footers. Only the Grizzlies. 

In the words of Spurs coach Gregg Popovich: “(Morant) is amazing.”

So Morant can call it a “rim grazer” if he wants.

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It is true that he has had better dunks in his career. 

But considering the context, and who it came against, it was plenty meaningful. Everyone can’t wait to see it play out again. 

“It was a surreal moment,” Bane said. “Obviously, Victor is still young in the league, but he has a lot of promise. He’s a great player.

“And Ja is who he is. It didn’t surprise me that Ja got the best of him in that matchup.”

Up next

The Grizzlies (11-22) will take on the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday at 7 p.m. (Bally Sports Southeast).