Ja Morant likely understands how former Memphis Grizzlies teammate Dillon Brooks felt.
Brooks, now with the Houston Rockets, earned the nickname “Dillon the Villain” for his physical play, mean mugging and accumulation of technical fouls. While Morant, the Grizzlies star guard, hasn’t reached that level, he is earning a reputation for his behavior.
Morant and the Grizzlies (45-32) visit the Detroit Pistons (43-34) on Saturday night, trying to stage a strong late-season run to remain out of the play-in tournament.
The Pistons secured an Eastern Conference playoff spot Friday with a 117-105 win at Toronto.
Morant was fined $75,000 on Friday by the NBA for his on-court gun gesture during Thursday’s road win at Miami. The NBA warned him following a similar incident during a home loss to the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday.
His “finger gun” caused the Heat fans to loudly boo him. Morant didn’t seem to mind.
“I’m kind of used to it,” Morant said. “I was pretty much a villain for two years now. Every little thing, If somebody can say something negative about me, it’s going to be out there. Yeah, I don’t care anymore.”
Teammate Jaren Jackson Jr. said Morant feeds off such crowd reactions on the road.
“I wouldn’t boo him,” Jackson added.
Morant’s gun gesture and game-winning shot at the buzzer aside, Friday also served as interim coach Tuomas Iisalo’s first win. Iisalo moved into the role after the Grizzlies dismissed Taylor Jenkins on March 28. Iisalo’s first three games as coach were against the Los Angeles Lakers, the Boston Celtics and the Warriors.
“(The win over Miami) was extremely important for our team,” Iisalo said. “Guys have been working really hard. Everybody that has been around has done everything in order to get this first win. Hopefully it’s one of many this season. It feels great.
“To do it in that type of style — a defensive battle where both teams are throwing punches throughout the second half — and come out victorious on that amazing shot by Ja — it was a really special way to do it.”
Detroit clinched its first playoff spot in six years on Friday night with the victory against the Raptors. Tim Hardaway Jr. led the Pistons with 23 points and Jalen Duren added another impressive double-double with 21 points and 18 boards. He has 39 double-doubles in 74 games.
The Pistons have been the NBA’s comeback franchise, more than tripling their win total from a year ago when they won a franchise-low 14 games.
“What they’ve done has been special,” said Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff after the playoff-clinching win. “No team has done what they have done. In the NBA, to be able to say that, you don’t get an opportunity to say that often.”
Since Jan. 1, the Pistons have posted a 29-16 record and become a top-three defense.
The Pistons secured their playoff spot Friday without star Cade Cunningham, who missed his sixth straight game Friday with a left calf contusion. Cunningham was listed as questionable before the Toronto game.
–Field Level Media
