Seventh-seeded Los Angeles Lakers are looking on course to upset No. 2 seeds Memphis Grizzlies after a 117-111 overtime win put them 3-1 up in their NBA playoffs series.
While LeBron James had one of his stellar games in Game 4, the chat on social media was all about the downfall of Grizzlies star Ja Morant. He went from flying high to falling face first on the court as his form suddenly left him at the most crucial part of the game.
Morant had posted 45 points against the Lakers at the weekend and was playing well on Monday night. Then, in the fourth quarter, he looked to jump off James for two points, only to fail miserably and fall awkwardly. It has inspired a thousand memes on Twitter.
The Grizzlies point guard was already nursing a painful hand injury after a difficult landing in Game 2, so fans couldn’t believe that he took flight again, only to fall badly once more.
This time, Morant was only 8-of-24 in Monday’s defeat, with his fourth quarter and overtime output being just 1-of-6 from the field. Some fans believe that Morant is one of the main reasons why the Grizzlies have slipped to 1-3 in the series.
It has been reported that the heavy fall off James, the NBA’s record point scorer, had aggravated Morant’s hand injury. He then faded into the background during the rest of the game and looked in pain on a number of occasions.
This has led to fans begging Morant not to make such aggressive, exaggerated attempts to score points for the Grizzlies as they are taking their toll.
There was concern for Morant’s career among those commenting about his fall, with one fan tweeting: “Ja morant career is gonna end in 4 years if he keeps on doing this.”
Others criticized Morant with a slew of wrestling memes flooding Twitter. One posted a screenshot from a WWE fight in which one of the wrestlers is flying through the air. The caption reads: “Ja Morant twice a game”
Another tweeted a video of a WWE star jumping off the ropes onto an opponent recovering from a fall outside of the ring. The caption reads: “Ja Morant in the middle of a basketball game for no damn reason.”
Grizzlies fans will be hoping that Morant’s hand will be on the mend for the fifth game of the series on Thursday. They’ll also be praying that the star does not take off again after what has happened the previous times he has done that.
