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Irate Ja Morant Thrown Out of Game After Animated Reaction to Foul Call vs. Kings
Ja Morant had a rough night against the Sacramento Kings on Thursday. The Memphis Grizzlies star scored just eight points on 2-of-13 shooting and missed all six three-pointers he attempted. Frustration boiled over midway through the fourth quarter when Morant was called for a foul on a DeMar DeRozan jump shot.
While replay showed he bumped DeRozan's body as he went into his shooting motion, Morant disagreed. He grabbed his head and then started punching his hand. As he walked to the bench he had some words for the officials and even pointed at one, which appeared to be the final straw. He was given his second technical foul of the game and headed to the locker room while coach Taylor Jenkins remained behind to continue the animated conversation.
However you feel about the original foul call, the ball did not lie as the Grizzlies ended up winning, 115-110. Desmond Bane, Jay Huff Santi Aldama, and Jake LaRavia all provided buckets after Morant's ejection and Marcus Smart made a number of free throws in the final minutes to hold off Sacramento.
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Stephen Douglas is a Senior Writer on the Breaking & Trending News Team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in journalism and media since 2008, and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Stephen spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and has previously written for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.