On Tuesday night, Ja Morant made an impressive return to NBA play, scoring the game-winning goal in the Grizzlies’ 115-113 victory against the Pelicans.

Morant scored 34 points in his season debut after returning to the court for the first time this season after serving a 25-game ban for gun play.

On Tuesday night, he completed a remarkable effort with a spinning dribble in the lane that set up a game-winning floater as time expired.

The Grizzlies, who came on a five-game losing skid and were 6-19 during Morant’s suspension for his social media antics with weapons, trailed by 24 points in the first half before taking a 113-111 lead on Morant’s inside jumper with 1:22 remaining.

The Pelicans knotted it, and the teams traded missed three-pointers before Morant’s game-winning shot. 

Partisan Pelicans supporters booed Morant during pregame introductions and again after he controlled the ball on the first possession.

Those booing faded down as the game progressed, and a group of visiting supporters near the Memphis bench made themselves known when Morant scored eight points in 1:20 of the third quarter, twice sinking tough driving baskets while being fouled.

LSU Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Jayden Daniels, who sat next to Tigers standout receiver Malik Nabers in the first row of the new New Orleans bench, was among those in attendance for Morant’s return.

Morant was tired at times and didn’t hit many jumpers, but his ability to drive into the paint – and finish – appeared unaffected.

Crossover dribbles to set up high floaters in the lane, finger rolls, and double-pump bank shots while hanging in the air were among his moves.

Memphis’ Jarvis Jackson Jr. had 24 points and Desmond Bane had 21 to help end the Pelicans’ four-game winning run.

New Orleans’ Brandon Ingram scored 34 points, but Zion Williamson’s time on the floor was restricted by foul trouble, and he ended with just 13 points.

Despite playing in the same division, it was just the eighth time Morant and Williamson – the top two NBA draft picks in 2019 – have featured in the same game, owing mostly to Williamson’s health difficulties.

‘I’m a dog, I’m a dog,’ Morant stated after the game. I’ve been putting effort into the dude. I haven’t played a game in eight months, so I’ve got plenty of time to educate myself. 

‘I had a lot of bad days, but basketball is my life, what I love, and it’s therapeutic for me, so I’m just glad to be back.’

‘I really didn’t want coach to call the timeout,’ he said of the game-winning play. That’s why I told him… that’s exactly the play I wanted to run right there. 

‘They had faith in me. I really wanted to go to the post office, but they refused, so I had to deliver for them.’

Morant also thanked his Grizzlies teammates for their encouragement. ‘They’re my boys, my brothers,’ he continued. We worked together to complete the task. Practices are difficult. Light exercises. Treatment. Flights. We spend a great deal of time together.

‘They’ve been quite helpful throughout this process. 

‘They were just saying wonderful things to me, asking me to remain true and keep working, and they showed right there with them trusting in me, which shows how enthusiastic everyone else is for me to come back.’