"That's my Christmas gift": Ja Morant gives epic reaction to posterizing Victor Wembanyama

Ja Morant made the anticipated poster on Victor Wembanyama when the two lottery picks went at it on Tuesday night. Morant punched a monster dunk over the San Antonio Spurs center in emphatic style in the fourth quarter, crossing him up before attacking the rim.

Morant's dunking ability vs. Wembaynama's rim protection was one of the battles many wondered about because of how elite the two athletes are. Morant was aware of the chatter around this. After the game, the Memphis Grizzlies superstar gave an epic reaction, saying (via Grizzlies' beat writer DamichaelC):

"That’s what everybody wanted, so that’s my late Christmas gift."

Ja Morant didn't just get the dunk but also a 106-98 win over Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs. He tallied 26 points, five rebounds and 10 assists, shooting 46.5%. Morant made 12 trips to the foul line after battling with his shot earlier.

Meanwhile, Wembanyama kept it close for the Spurs, bagging 20 points, seven rebounds and four blocks, including one on Morant. He shot 50.0%. However, the rest of the Spurs weren't providing much resistance. The young Spurs lacked the composure down the stretch to steal one from Memphis.

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Victor Wembanyama reacts to guarding Ja Morant

Victor Wembanyama was all praise for Ja Morant despite being outplayed by him on the biggest possession of the night. Wembanyama complimented the former Rookie of the Year, commending his quickness:

"Good player, very small so it’s hard to catch up. Very fast. Just another great player that I see every night. In the NBA, everyone’s got a franchise player like this who’s causing problems."

Wembanyama has faced all the top teams in the NBA with their best players. The No. 1 pick has held his own against them but never failed to express the degree of difficulty of facing the stars.

Morant was another big-time player he went toe-to-toe with. Wemby fared decently, apart from getting bested on a couple of plays. It isn't easy to guard a player like Morant for any big, but "Wemby" seemed to have done decently on most, if not all, plays.

With the win, Ja Morant and the Grizzlies improved to 5-2 with him in the lineup and 11-22 on the season. Their postseason hopes are still alive with steady progress. Morant nearly gave them a scare in the first half as he grimaced in pain before halftime, seemingly injuring his leg.

However, he was good to go in the second half, so the Grizzlies will be glad that it is unlikely to be a long-term issue.