Desmond Bane 'Thankful' for Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr. Supporting Him at Magic-Pistons Game 4

Ja Morant's Memphis Grizzlies and Jaren Jackson Jr.'s Utah Jazz missed the playoffs, so they took the time to support one of their former teammates in his postseason battle.

Morant and Jackson showed up to watch Desmond Bane help lead the Orlando Magic to a 94-88 victory over the Detroit Pistons in Monday's contest to take a 3-1 series lead over the Eastern Conference's No. 1 seed.

"It's special," Bane told reporters when discussing his former Grizzlies teammates attending the game. "Those are guys that I spent five years with, started my career with, made a lot of memories with.

"So I'm super thankful that they came out to support. It's a friendship that'll last forever. Those are guys that mean a lot to me. I'm thankful that they pulled up to support."

Bane played with Memphis for the first five seasons of his career before the team traded him to Orlando ahead of the 2025-26 campaign. Morant and Jackson were teammates with him during that entire tenure.

The Grizzlies made the playoffs in four of those five seasons and seemed to have a bright future, although Bane and Jackson are no longer on the roster while Morant has been limited by injuries and suspensions of late.

Yet they clearly all still have each other's backs.

Morant and Jackson saw quite the performance from Bane, who finished with 22 points and five rebounds on 7-of-18 shooting from the field and 5-of-10 shooting from deep. One of those three-pointers banked in with just more than a minute remaining to give Orlando a six-point lead it never relinquished.

Pistons-Magic Highlights

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It was arguably the most important shot of the game that put the Eastern Conference's No. 1 seed on the brink of elimination.

The series now returns to Detroit for Wednesday's Game 5, where the Magic will look to advance to the second round with another win.