Someone call 12.

Fueled by a 23-point effort from Ja Morant — resembling his finest form of the early season — the Portland Trail Blazers ousted the Los Angeles Lakers 136-129 on Tuesday night to remain unbeaten and move to 3-0.

Averaging only 13 points through the first two regular season games, Morant’s performance against the Lakers, which included a clutch fourth-quarter sequence to help keep Portland ahead, felt like a declaration that he is, indeed, primed to help Portland reach new heights.

“I thought he got to his spots, and I thought when he got there, he was very, very patient,” Blazers head coach Micah Nori said postgame. “And you can see the game is starting to slow down for him even from the preseason when he (was coming off) the layoff he had from his injury, and I think now everything is kind of in slow motion for him.

“And like we talked about,” Nori continued, “we are getting the best version of Ja Morant.”

Clutch-time heroics

The Blazers led the Lakers 128-127 with two minutes and seven seconds left in the nationally televised game. Avdija inbounded the ball to Ja Morant on a sideline-out-of-bounds and cut to the weakside corner.

Robert Williams III went to set an inside screen for the former All-NBA point guard, but the Lakers’ Austin Reaves preemptively iced Morant, attempting to force him toward the sideline and right into the waiting arms of 7-foot-2 Walker Kessler.

Time to eat.

Williams detected Reaves’ scheme immediately and motioned Morant toward Kessler, flipping the angle of his screen and jamming Reaves. Morant slithered his way to the lane, sinking a floater over Kessler’s outstretched hands. One empty Lakers’ possession and a successful Blazers’ challenge later, Morant and Williams collaborated on another pick-and-roll.

This time Morant waded his way toward the middle. He hit Reaves with a behind-the-back dribble and drove with his off-hand. Reaching the paint, he spun and scored on another floater, hitting his patented ‘call 12’ celebration running back on defense. Luka Doncic responded with a floater of his own, trimming the deficit to three. 

With under a minute and clearly feeling himself, Morant seemed like the logical option to continue running the offense through. But Portland opted for dimensionality, having Avdija drive and create a two-on-one situation that left Lillard open in the strong-side corner. Avdija made the right read and Lillard, ultimately, side-stepped to hit the dagger.

Before the ball even left Lillard’s hands, Morant began walking toward mid-court from his spot in the weak-side corner. A smile emerged on his face once the ball went in, turning toward fans sitting courtside and tapping a finger to his wrist, letting them know it was ‘Dame time.’ Meeting Lillard near half-court, Morant’s grin reached its apex as he celebrated with his backcourt mate and teammates.

“It’s a blessing to be able to play around one of the best shooters of all-time (Damian Lillard), and then a talent like Deni (Avdija) as well, and the rest of the guys,” Morant told NBC’s courtside reporter Ashley ShahAhmadi postgame. “We just got to continue to gel together, keep the chemistry going and keep doing what we doing.”

It can be easy to be cynical toward any professional athletes’ comments about their teammates. These are PR-trained multi-millionaires with often little to gain by airing out grievances, or even slight reservations, to the media. When Lillard said that Morant possessed “a real joy about him” and that “every day he’s smiling” and “his energy is good” like he did after the Blazers season opener against the Suns, one could brush it off as, “Well, of course, he’d say that.” 

But from watching Morant through three games, and especially last night, it’s clear that he does maintain a certain level of maturity and emotional stability to defer in moments he’s used to dominating. That’s not to say he’s been immature in the past or shown resentment toward teammates’ flashes in the limelight; it’s just nice to see it play out in real time and affirm what others have said about him.

“They’re both very selfless players. They both have been there, done that,” Nori said about Lillard and Morant. “They just want to win, and I think they’re both trying to play the right way.

“I know it can be corny with sayings, but (it’s amazing) what you can accomplish when no one cares who gets the credit and no one cares who gets the shot,” Nori continued. “I mean, they’re literally saying, ‘Hey, Ja you got Kessler in the pick and roll this time. Deni get yourself downhill this time. Dame, I’ll take the 77 this time.’ So, constant communication and it’s just across the board — all of them simply want to win basketball games.” 

They’ll definitely want to win their next game, as Portland hosts Morant’s former team the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday at home. Following the acrimonious end to his tenure, Morant must be hungry to face the organization that decided he was no longer worth devoting to and planning its future around. Considering how invested this Blazers group seems in one another, it’s safe to assume Morant’s teammates will be just as eager to show them what they’re missing out on.