Coming off his best performance of the young NBA season, Ja Morant is set to face his most difficult challenge yet: facing the organization that shipped him out of town.

Morant and the Portland Trail Blazers host the Memphis Grizzlies in a Western Conference clash between two unbeaten teams. The Grizzlies are currently 4-0 and second in the conference standings, holding victories over the Utah Jazz (x2), the Golden State Warriors and the Sacramento Kings.

The Blazers, meanwhile, are 3-0 with wins over the Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Lakers. In his first year post-Memphis, Morant so is averaging 16.3 points on a highly efficient 58.8 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from beyond the arc, along with 6.3 assists, 2.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals.

Named the 2019-20 NBA Rookie of the Year, Morant spent seven years with the Grizzlies. His best year with Memphis came in the the 2021-22 campaign, in which he won the NBA Most Improved Player Award, was named to the All-NBA Second Team and appeared in his first All-Star game, finishing seventh in MVP voting. Morant made a total of two All-Star appearances during his tenure in Memphis.

Morant was plagued by injuries and off-court issues in his final three seasons with the Grizzlies, playing in just 79 of 246 possible regular season games (32 percent). The tumultuous stretch ultimately climaxed with Memphis parting ways with its former No. 2 overall NBA draft pick, trading him to Portland in July in exchange for Kris Murray and Jerami Grant.

Tale of the tape

The Grizzlies are 10th in points per game (116.8), second in rebounds per game (50) and 20th in assists per game (25). They are 19th in field goal percentage (45.3) and third in 3-point percentage (39.1), sinking 14.8 threes per game, the fifth-best in the league.

Ty Jerome has been the shock of the NBA season thus far, becoming an early contender for Most Improved Player, averaging 29.8 points, 6.5 assists and 3.5 rebounds on efficient shooting splits (FG/3PT/FT) of 50.6/30.7/87.9. Rookie Cameron Boozer, the third overall pick in June's NBA Draft, has struggled shooting from the field, but is still managing a double-double of 14.8 points and 10.5 rebounds per game.

Portland leads the league in scoring at 129.3 points per game. The Blazers are ninth in rebounding (46.3) and second in assists (30.7). Portland is third in field goal percentage (51.1) and fifth in 3-point shooting (38.9), hitting a league-leading 17 threes per game.

Former All-Star Deni Avdija spearheads Portland with 22.3 points per game, seven rebounds and 6.3 assists, shooting 48.9 percent overall and 43.8 percent from three. Damian Lillard follows him at 21.7 points per game, adding 4.3 rebounds and four assists, holding a field percentage of 45.2 percent and 3-point percentage of 42.9.

The Blazers won last year's season series 3-1, winning by as much as 20 points and losing by as much as 23 points. Portland leads the all-time series 63-49 and is 34-23 all-time at home against Memphis, riding a current three-game winning steak. Thursday's game is the first of three meetings this year between the two teams, and the only bout in Portland.