Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports
Ja Morant tried to dunk over Rudy Gobert. It did not end well.
Ja Morant may be on his Grizzly, but Rudy Gobert is on a collision course with his third Defensive Player of the Year award, and he wasn’t having any of what the Memphis Grizzlies star was trying to serve up early in Game 2.
After the Grizzlies shocked the Utah Jazz with a surprising Game 1 win at the Vivint Smart Home Arena to start their first-round series, Gobert and company needed to bounce back on Wednesday night. Donovan Mitchell was back in the lineup and Gobert was patrolling the paint as always, hoping to keep Morant away from the basket, where he found so much success in the series opener.
Early in the second quarter, with Utah already up by 14, Morant found an opening to the basket with only Gobert standing in his way. The 21-year-old gathered himself, rose up to test the DPOY frontrunner … and got absolutely annihilated at the rim.
Rudy Gobert entered his Block of the Year submission with this one
In all honesty, God bless Ja Morant for even trying to climb Mount Gobert. A lot of guys would’ve passed the ball to someone else or dribbled their way out of a midair confrontation they were almost certain to lose. But Morant tried it. He wanted it all.
He got absolutely swatted, of course, but what fun would the league be if guys didn’t try to dunk over Gobert from time to time? You have to admire that level of confidence, just as you have to admire the Stifle Tower for one of the best blocks we’ve seen all season long.
The Jazz were in complete control at the half, going into the break up 74-54. This 2021 NBA Playoffs series will most likely be split at 1-1 heading back to Memphis, but even if Game 2 is a complete rout, at least it supplied us with an incredible highlight play between two unstoppable forces colliding in midair.