Ja Morant vs. Jose Alvarado just might be the NBA’s best new individual rivalry. As the Memphis Grizzlies and New Orleans Pelicans squared off on TNT on Tuesday night, injuries to Zion Williamson and Desmond Bane threatened to derail a fun matchup of two rising young teams in the West. Instead, Morant and Alvarado helped deliver a thrilling, back-and-forth game featuring incredible intensity and oh so much trash talking from the two guards.
Ja Morant vs. Jose Alvarado is the best NBA rivalry we never knew we needed
Ja Morant and Jose Alvarado hit each other with dueling ‘too small’ taunts, and we loved every second of it.
Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Morant is a superstar as a former No. 2 overall pick, and Alvarado is an undrafted free agent who has carved out a bench spot on the Pelicans. On the surface, it might be easy to think these two don’t have much in common, but both play with an enormous chip on their shoulder every time they take the floor. Alvarado is known for his defense, but he got the best of Morant on offense a couple times. After one drive in the second quarter, Alvarado hit Morant with the “too small” taunt following a layup. Morant went at him on the next possession and did his own “too small” taunt after scoring over him for an and-one.
The Pelicans won the game, 113-102. Watch the sequence here:
While Morant got the last laugh in this sequence, Alvarado will gladly take the win. The Pelicans could not have won without their feisty reserve point guard. While Morant scored 36 points on the night, he shot 13-of-27 from the field and was frustrated by Alvarado’s defense throughout the night. According to the NBA.com matchup data, Morant was 1-of-7 when defended by Alvarado during the game.
Alvarado also had this key strip on Morant in the fourth quarter:
Alvarado also had a big night offensively by his standards, finishing with 12 points and six assists in 21 minutes. The Pelicans have been playing him more down the stretch lately, and he’s consistently coming through with great defense and enough offense to keep him on the floor.
PLEASE give us a Pelicans vs. Grizzlies playoff series this year. It would be so much fun to see Zion and Ja go at, while players like Alvarado and Dillon Brooks try to stop them. If you thought the Morant vs. Alvarado matchup is fun on a random Tuesday night in Nov., just imagine it with huge postseason stakes. We deserve this.
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