Ja Morant, who seems irritated that he can’t put distance between his Memphis Grizzlies and the tenacious Minnesota Timberwolves, has spent the most of these playoffs locked up and out of rhythm.

This week, James Harden was crowned the NBA’s most improved player. Since missing over a month of play before the playoffs due to a knee injury, Morant has struggled to finish around the basket and has often faced double teams. The Timberwolves had a double-digit lead late in the third quarter, and the Grizzlies, with their star player performing below par, were knotted at two games each going into Tuesday’s Game 5 of their first-round series. Memphis would risk being the first No. 2 seed to be ousted by a No. 7 seed since the San Antonio Spurs were defeated by the Dallas Mavericks in 2010 if Minnesota managed to hold on.

But the 22-year-old Morant turned the tide of the match and the series with a forceful slam that set off a wild fourth-quarter comeback. The all-star guard then clinched the triumph with a game-winning layup in the closing seconds to give the team a 111-109 lead. Although Morant’s performance in the last quarter accounted for 18 of his game-high 30 points, it was his poster dunk at the conclusion of the third quarter that put Memphis back on track. This was Morant’s greatest basketball of the series.

After coming within one victory of making it to the postseason for the first time in his three-year career, Morant remarked, “It definitely ignited the crowed and gave us energy.” “I was pretty much aggressive after that.”

Throughout Memphis’s 56-win season, Jared Morant’s daring feats were a mainstay. His most memorable block came against the Los Angeles Lakers in January, when the lanky 6-foot-3 point guard leaped high above the hoop to snag the shot with two hands, tap the ball off the backboard, and then skillfully control the rebound in a fluid, split-second motion.

However, up until now, Morant’s most intense dunk efforts have often ended in close calls. When Morant was a rookie in December 2019, he almost jumped over Cleveland Cavaliers player Kevin Love to get to the hoop, but his effort to stretch out the ball hit the back of the rim and rebounded out close to midcourt. Despite the miss, that bold effort went popular on social media, and a photo of Morant attempting to climb over Love subsequently turned up on one of his basketball cards.