Prior to Sunday night's face-off, the last time Ja Morant squared off against the OKC Thunder was back during the 2025 Western Conference Quarterfinals, a series the Grizzlies were handily swept in.
Nevertheless, despite their four-game ouster, the All-Star point guard made it a point to say during his exit interview that, had he not succumbed to a hip injury in Game 3 -- a game Memphis led by as much as 29 points --, the series would have wound up going back to FedExForum tied up at 2-2, specifically noting that he "had them figured out."
Though at the time, these specific remarks were already viewed as rather humorous to Thunder fans, following their recent round one rematch, they may now be widely perceived as comedic gold, as the Grizzlies simply had no answers for OKC on the night, particularly down the stretch.
Ja Morant clearly still doesn't have Thunder 'figured out'
Though Memphis managed to make the contest pretty competitive during the first half of play, even pushing their lead to as high as 19 points mid-way through quarter number two, the final 24 minutes of action proved that they are still a ways away from getting the best of this Thunder team.
Simply put, Oklahoma City had their biggest superpower put on full display in the second half.
Earlier in the week, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (35 points) highlighted how Oklahoma City's roster is filled with players who "are ready to play."
Right out of the gates in the third quarter, such a sentiment was strengthened exponentially, as guys like Ajay Mitchell, Chet Holmgren, and Alex Caruso helped on both ends of the floor to lead the charge in erasing their 11-point deficit coming in and, ultimately, closing out the period with an 85-80 edge.
From there on out, it was all Thunder, as they kept the Grizzlies from retaking the lead during the fourth, holding them to just 31.6 percent shooting from the floor and forcing them into three turnovers, while Gilgeous-Alexander went on an absolute heater by dropping nine straight points in the final four minutes of regulation to permanently flip the momentum in their favor.
In the end, OKC walked away with a hard-fought 114-100 win, their tenth in eleven games played this season.
As for Memphis, they now slide to 4-7 on the year, while this contest marks their tenth-straight loss (14 if you include playoffs) to the Thunder.
Morant, meanwhile, finished off his night with a somewhat pedestrian stat line of 11 points, eight assists, and three turnovers on a putrid 16.7 percent shooting from the floor and 28.6 percent shooting from deep while registering a game-worst plus-minus of -23.
So much for having this Thunder team figured how, huh Ja?