Ja Morant free-throw line trash talk backfired in Grizzlies loss

Ja Morant did his best to get Malik Monk to miss a pair of clutch free throws. Instead, Morant’s own free throw miss cost the Grizzlies the game.

Ja Morant has every right to be confident, as one of the most exciting and productive young players in the game. But trash talk is a dangerous enterprise no matter how good you are and there is always a chance of it backfiring.

With 3.9 seconds left on the clock and the Grizzlies trailing by one, Malik Monk was at the free throw line for two shots and a chance to put the Kings up 3. As you can see below, Morant walked up behind Monk to whisper “don’t miss,” which turned out to be a mistake.

With 3.9 seconds left and the score 109-108, Ja Morant walks up to Malik Monk at the free throw line and tells him “dont miss” three times.

Monk makes both.

Morant then goes to line with a chance to tie the game seconds later, misses.

Kings win.https://t.co/a1Pz0FAd5M pic.twitter.com/eqpa0jD3XV

— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) November 23, 2022

Drawing a foul on a 3-point attempt on the next possession was fairly remarkable for Morant but missing the first free throw pretty much wiped away their chances.

Is Ja Morant a good clutch free-throw shooter?

Morant has struggled in clutch situations for the Grizzlies this season. Including this game against the Kings, he has totaled 25 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds, a steal and a block in just 26 clutch minutes. But that’s come with 4 turnovers and he’s shot just 8-of-23 from the field, 0-of-4 from beyond the arc and 9-of-14 from the free throw line.

For his career, across the regular season and playoffs, Morant has made 75.3 percent of 158 total clutch free throws, a percentage that’s right inline with his career average across all free throw attempts. The odds were in his favor when he went to the line, it was just too bad he had already tempted fate with his whispers to Monk.

This article was originally published by Fansided.com. Read the original article here.