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Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant got into a bit of an altercation during a recent win over the Indiana Pacers.
It wasn’t entirely clear what caused the scuffle between Morant and members of the opposing team. The guard was initially seen jawing with Pacers wing Chris Duarte after a free throw from Indiana’s Isaiah Jackson. Members from both teams got involved before the two sides were eventually separated.
During his post-game interview, Morant was asked to provide more clarity. He said that Pacers rookie Andrew Nembhard actually started the incident:
“Andrew told my pops to shut up. Pretty much, I heard my pops like ask him if he said shut up. So I was trying to figure out who he was talking to. Obviously, I had seen it was him, so I approached him, seeing what he was on. Checked his temperature. He didn’t have a fever. Then Duarte came over, tried to push me … I told him stop pushing me. He said he was cooling. Then his teammates came over, then he started talking.”
Morant’s father, Tee Morant, was also recently involved in a dispute with FS1’s Shannon Sharpe (who wore a stylish cardigan) during a recent Lakers game in Los Angeles.
Ja clearly wasn’t happy that Nembhard was disrespectful toward Tee. Meanwhile, Morant’s best friend Davonte Pack (who is also known as DTap) was escorted out of the arena for his role in escalating Sunday’s altercation.
It was a bizarre scene and you can watch it in its entirety right here:
The Tip-Off
NBA content from around the USA TODAY Sports network.
Speaking of the Grizzlies, Memphis big man Jaren Jackson Jr. found himself at the center of an incredibly dumb controversy this past weekend.
There was a Reddit post that claimed Memphis scorekeepers were cooking the books to make Jackson’s potential Defensive Player of the Year campaign more impressive. There are several reasons why that is not true:
“Let’s fully ignore all of his blocks and steals and defensive counting stats that can potentially be fudged by a scorekeeper.
The Athletic’s Seth Partnow has a fascinating metric that does not use blocks to calculate rim protection. Instead, he involves rim FG% allowed vs. contests, frequency of contests, and opponent rim attempt rate while a player is on the floor.
Jackson leads the league in rim protection points saved, and while he is 2.2 points per 100 possession better at home than on the road, his splits at home and on the road would both rank as the best in the league.”
The league uses auditors and tons of additional camera angles to verify all stats.
In the age of popularized sports gambling, there is simply no way anybody would get away with fudging the numbers. Jackson just records more blocks at home than he does on the road. It’s fairly simple stuff!
One To Watch
(All odds via Tipico.)
Kings (-115, -1.5) vs. Timberwolves (-105), O/U 237.5, 8:00 PM ET
Over the course of their last ten games, both the Kings and the Timberwolves are 7-3. Based on net ratings, Sacramento and Minnesota are two of the five best teams in the Western Conference this month since the new year began. Anthony Edwards has turned it up a notch of late, but the Kings remain as the No. 3 seed in the West.
Shootaround
— Patrick Beverley brilliantly used a photographer’s camera to a ref to prove LeBron was fouled and got a tech
— LeBron James’ emotional reaction to a missed foul call in Lakers-Celtics became a funny meme
— Joel Embiid discusses the scuffle between Georges Niang, and Shake Milton in recent win
— HoopsHype’s Notebook: Latest on Myles Turner, Bojan Bogdanovic, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, Bones Hyland