Ja Morant Awkwardly Hugs Jarrett Allen After Getting Posterized By Cavs' Big Man

Published•Updated

Ja Morant is typically the one putting defenders on posters, but the roles were reversed on Sunday, and the Memphis Grizzlies star handled the moment in a rather unique fashion.

With the Cleveland Cavaliers trying to pull away from Memphis late in the fourth quarter, Morant found himself in a one-on-one situation with Jarrett Allen in the paint. While most guards would just let Allen do his thing and give up a sure-thing dunk, Morant elected to jump with him, which proved to be the wrong choice.

Just as the shot clock was expiring on Cleveland's possession, Allen found himself all alone in front of the rim. As he went up, Morant tried to meet him, and the keyword there is ‘tried.’

Allen got the best of Morant, to put it mildly, and even got a hug for his efforts as the Memphis star laughed off the play with his arms wrapped around the big man.

READ: Popular Restaurant Owes Ja Morant Hundreds Of Thousands Of Dollars After Marketing Snafu

Allen has seven inches on Morant, so he's expected to pull off the slam in that situation, but Morant does deserve some credit for leaping with him.

READ: Grizzlies GM Emphatically Shuts Down Ja Morant Trade Rumors, Calls Them 'Fantasy'

As for the contest itself, Cleveland got the best of Memphis 129-123, although Morant had a very strong night with 21 points, 10 assists, and just a single turnover in his team's loss. 

The telling stat of the game was on the glass, with the Cavs out rebounding the Grizzlies 57-37, which included 22 offensive boards for Cleveland. The fact Memphis kept it that close with that situation unfolding on the glass is a surprise, especially when you consider they had a worse field goal percentage from the floor as well. 

Tags
Written by

Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets, including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016, when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.