“Ja Morant has the most 20+ points in the paint games in 25 years”: How the Grizzlies guard has surpassed Dwyane Wade and Russell Westbrook in paint domination by a guard

Ja Morant has been obliterating interior defenses this season and has the most 20+ points in the paint games in the past 25 years. 

Ja Morant has been the leading the Memphis Grizzlies to the 3rd best record in the entirety of the NBA this 2022 NBA season. It seems unimaginable now that fans were genuinely debating whether or not the Grizzlies were better off without Morant when they went on a win streak in his absence due to injury earlier in the year. 

In merely his third season in the league, Ja Morant has racked up his first All-Star nod and is likely to receive a spot on an All-NBA team when the season wraps.

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The major aspect of Morant’s game that makes him as potent as he is, is his ability to finish inside of the paint. 

Not only do his moves pass the eye test when attacking defenses in the interior but are looking incredible on the stat sheet as well. 

Ja Morant puts his mark on NBA history with his finishing ability. 

Ja Morant has put up a whopping 13 games this season where he’s posted 20+ points in the paint. This is the most by a guard in the past 25 years and he has officially surpassed Russell Westbrook and Dwyane Wade in the stat with more than 30 games left to play for Memphis.

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Many misconstrue their statistic as being him merely finishing at the rim with highlight worthy dunks and layups. What they miss out is his beautiful floater game, something the entirety of the Memphis Grizzlies team is very efficient at (eg. Desmond Bane, DeAnthony Melton, and Brandon Clarke).

The Memphis Grizzlies lead the league in points in the paint by a significant margin of 2.8 points. Of the 56.4 points that they do average in the paint, Ja Morant makes up for a whopping 15.6 of them. 

What is even more incredible is that Ja Morant, as a 5’2 guard, leads the league in points in the paint with that average, ahead of 7 footers like Giannis, Nikola Jokic, and Joel Embiid.