Ja Morant and Stephen Curry faced each other on Sunday for the first time, and the result made it seem like Curry didn’t forget the way the Memphis Grizzlies star talked smack to him on social media last year.
In a game that decided which team earned the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference, Curry gave Morant a first-hand look at why he is a two-time NBA MVP. The Golden State Warriors star dropped 46 points — including nine three-pointers — in his team’s 113-101 win. Curry, who claimed his second career scoring NBA title with the performance, had Morant looking completely deflated.
Steph had Ja looking sick pic.twitter.com/bnWwmd2uv3
— gifdsports (@gifdsports) May 16, 2021
Morant finished with just 16 points on 7-of-21 shooting. The Warriors dared him to shoot three-pointers all game, and he responded by hitting just 1-of-6 from long range. Morant was ruthlessly trolled with memes after the game.
Ja Morant: Open at the three-point line
The Warriors: pic.twitter.com/YsCVZamLXW
— The Big Chillin' (@Kofie) May 16, 2021
Ja morant on the side watching Steph curry end his season like: pic.twitter.com/WOF6IXhWLg
— They Want Me Dead Like Pac (@KingMosesDaGod) May 16, 2021
If you couldn’t tell, this is Ja Morant’s first ever game vs Steph Curry pic.twitter.com/BAjv3j0OD8
— Guru (@DrGuru_) May 16, 2021
Future Ja Morant when they doing his documentary and they speak on his first game against Steph Curry pic.twitter.com/6YU6u1J10H
— Agent 265 (@265Agent) May 16, 2021
Curry may have been motivated by some friendly trash talk that was exchanged a little over a year ago. Morant was unhappy that Andre Iguodala, one of Curry’s former teammates, was trying to force his way out of Memphis. Curry defended Iguodala against criticism from Morant and other Grizzlies players by tweeting a photo that showed Iguodala holding the Larry O’Brien Trophy. Morant responded with a photo of Kevin Durant holding the NBA Finals MVP trophy, which was his way of saying Durant carried the Warriors.
You can see the entire exchange here.
Morant said at the time that he was a huge Curry fan, and he has since praised Curry on social media numerous times. Still, Curry is such a fierce competitor that you can bet he didn’t forget it.
By securing the No. 8 seed, the Warriors now have two paths to reach the playoffs via the play-in tournament — win and get in, or lose and then beat the winner of the No. 9 vs. No. 10 game to get in. The Grizzlies are locked into the No. 9 seed, which means they need two wins to earn a playoff spot and would be eliminated with a loss.
