Thursday night at Target Center Ja Morant did a little bit of everything, but nothing he did came easy, thanks to a Wolves defense that doubled him, bracketed him, hit him.
Yes, he had a triple-double. But he needed 18 shots to score 16 points.
After the Grizzlies had finished the game on a 50-16 run over the final 15 minutes, 10 seconds of the second half, after Memphis had taken a 2-1 first-round playoff series lead over the Timberwolves with a 104-95 victory that tied the franchise record for their biggest comeback ever (26 points), after the players had filed back into the visitors locker room with a loud chorus of cheers, Morant wanted to talk about others:
Like Desmond Bane. Or Brandon Clarke. Or Tyus Jones.
"Been saying this all season,'' Morant said. "My teammates deserve more respect, more recognition for what they do. We three struggled. That's why we have the guy sitting next to me to pick us up."
For the record, he was sitting next to Jones, a Minnesota native who made the most of his 14 minutes, who was instrumental in a strong end to the third quarter and a wicked start to the fourth.
But this is how memorable comebacks are made: On a night where Morant was less than efficient, Jaren Jackson Jr. was battling foul trouble all night and Dillon Brooks was fighting a 4-for-14 evening, it was depth that helped the Grizzlies overcome deficits of 26 and 25 points and win.
"This is No. 1,'' Bane said when asked about where this game ranked on the weirdness scale. "I ain't never been down 20, twice, and won.''
Bane scored a game-high 26 points, making seven of 15 three-pointers. He had nine points the first time the Grizzlies battled back from 20-plus down in the first half. In the second half he scored 10 points in that 50-16 run to the finish.
Clarke? He came off the bench to score 20 points with eight rebounds. Twelve of those 20 points came in the final 15 minutes of the game.
"Usually, when I've gotten down 20, I end up losing by 30,'' Clarke said.
And then, Jones: His final numbers were modest — 11 points, five rebounds, four assists. But he scored six of those points in the fourth quarter, including a three with 7:09 left that pulled Memphis within three points and another with 5:46 left that gave the Grizzlies their first lead of the game, 88-87.
"Tyus was phenomenal end of the third, start of the fourth,'' Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins said.
And, frankly, it was the stuff of dreams for Jones, who played at Apple Valley High School, won a national title with Duke and spent his first four seasons with the Timberwolves.
"As a kid, from Minnesota, you think of these moments, dream of these moments,'' Jones said. "Playoff basketball at the Target Center. And so, yeah, I was just really ready for it. I prepared myself to be ready in these moments. My teammates, coaches, they trusted me to deliver in those moments.''
Morant certainly did.
"They pretty much won the game for us,'' he said of Jones, Clarke and Bane.
