Ja Morant had the ball, 9.6 seconds left, the score tied, and it was almost impossible to believe the night was unfolding just this way.

It was Morant’s first game in 235 days.

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At halftime, the Grizzlies had appeared to be out of it.

“It’s looking like a long year in Memphis,” said Brian Anderson, on the call for TNT.

“They’ve got personnel issues,” said Greg Anthony, the TNT color analyst.

An hour or so later, the game had flipped around entirely.

Those personnel issues had faded before the brilliance of Morant.

And now Morant had the ball in his hands — the win in his hands — and a chance to do something extraordinary.

With 3.2 seconds remaining, Morant started to drive left, past Herb Jones, the New Orleans defender.

With 1.9 seconds left, he spun 360 degrees back to the right again.

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With 1.3 seconds left, he stopped, elevated back up and to the right and — just before the buzzer sounded — dropped the ball off the back rim and into the hoop.

Morant was instantly mobbed by his teammates.

What time was it when the shot dropped through?

It was 9:01 p.m.

No, really. It was 9:01 p.m.

The Grizzlies defeated the New Orleans Pelicans, 115-113. They defeated the Pelicans on the second night of a back-to-back, in a game they once trailed by 24, on the night when Morant made his long-awaited return.

You remember the phrase the late, great Don Poier made famous more than two decades ago?

Only in the movies and in Memphis.

Ja Morant talks about his return

This was one of those nights.

It was perfect. It was impossible. It was better — more hopeful, more reassuring and more flat-out spectacular — than Grizzlies fans dared dream.

Exactly one week earlier, Morant had been in court, testifying in that ridiculous civil suit. Then he had to sit through his second apologetic back-from-suspension press conference.

In that press conference, Morant said he “had to be Ja.”

But who knew he would be this version of Ja this soon?

OK, maybe Shaquille O’Neal did.

Before the game, when the TNT studio crew was talking about how Morant would have to play “short stints” in his comeback game, O’Neal proclaimed: “I think he’s ready to make the world forget about his mistakes. Come out and score 50 tonight and watch what everybody does.”

Everyone had a good laugh about that one.

Score 50?

But what Morant did was somehow almost better than that.

He scored 34 points in 35 minutes. He scored 27 points — including the game winner — in the second half.

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He reminded the NBA universe that he is still the single most thrilling basketball player on the planet. And he did it while lifting his team — still short Steven Adams, Brandon Clarke, Marcus Smart, Luke Kennard and Derrick Rose — from 24 points down to victory.

The first half, Morant was just feeling his way. But even then, you could see how his presence on the court changed everything. Morant drove into the lane, drew the defense to him, then found Ziaire Williams for an alley-oop. He threw a behind-back pass in the lane to Xavier Tillman that the TNT guys couldn’t stop talking about — even though Tillman missed the shot.

“He’s a show-stopper, isn’t he?” said Anderson.

Yes.

And that show had been stopped — or paused, anyway — for far too long.

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The second half was mesmerizing. It was Morant, finally unleashed. Driving and scooping shots off the backboard. Cutting into the lane, then elevating for a finger roll. 

“It’s almost like he never left!” said Anderson.

No, it was almost like he’d been waiting — and preparing — eight months for this chance.

There’s a reason Morant had been identified as the new face of the NBA. There’s a reason Morant got that Nike deal. People can rattle off a list of all the talented young guards who have supposedly passed Morant in the NBA pecking order — but none of those guards are as incandescent, as irresistible, as Morant.

That’s why the path back doesn’t have to be all that hard, honestly. Because all Morant has to do is be himself. Stay out of trouble, sure. But then just be the basketball player he has always been. 

So with 9.3 seconds remaining, the game tied, everyone knew what was about to happen. Well, everybody but Morant. He was cramping, badly. He suggested to Desmond Bane that the Grizzlies should run a play for Jaren Jackson Jr.

“He told me, ‘F--- no,’” said Morant.

What happened next will be remembered as long as Morant plays basketball. What happened next is already a part of Grizzlies — and NBA — lore.

After it was done, after the ball had dropped through, the TNT sideline reporter asked Morant to describe the play.

Morant smiled, as if he’d been waiting a long time to say the words. 

“Call 12,” he said.