MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Ja Morant returned to the Memphis Grizzlies' lineup on Friday night after missing 10 games due to a right calf strain and had 21 points and 10 assists in a 130-126 loss to the Utah Jazz.
Morant struggled from the field making 7 of 20 shots. He also committed four turnovers in just more than 25 minutes.
“I was forced to get some shots up,” Morant said when asked about any rust from the inactivity since he last played in the Grizzlies' 108-100 loss at Cleveland on Nov. 15. “Some of them, I should have been to the free throw line. Some I missed. Some of them I made. I can't change it. I just got to live with it.”
Morant entered the game averaging 17.9 points and 7.6 assists in 12 games this season. The scoring average is well below his career average of 22.4 points. His shooting percentages, both overall and from 3-point range, also are down.
Memphis went 7-3 during Morant's absence and the 10-game stretch was the longest he has missed this season. He sat out one game with right ankle soreness and was suspended by the team for one game after criticizing the coaching staff.
The 6-foot-2 guard is in his seventh season in the NBA, all with the Grizzlies. He was the second overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft after the New Orleans Pelicans selected Zion Williamson.
As for his return Friday night, Morant said: “We should have won.”
“Played soft. They outrebounded us. We let guys come off the bench and make a difference,” Morant said, adding: “I've got to be better. I've got be able to go up and help my bigs rebound. I've got to take care of the ball. Better decisions. Make shots. I'll correct mine, and we'll correct ours together.”
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Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (12) handles the ball against Utah Jazz forward Brice Sensabaugh, left, in the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Dec. 12, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant, top left, shoots ahead of Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen (23) in the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Dec. 12, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday that Thai and Cambodian leaders had agreed to renew a truce after days of deadly clashes, even as Thai and Cambodian officials suggested there is still work to do to get the ceasefire that the U.S. administration had helped broker earlier this year back on track.
Trump announced the agreement to restart the ceasefire in a social media posting following calls with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet.
“They have agreed to CEASE all shooting effective this evening, and go back to the original Peace Accord made with me, and them, with the help of the Great Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim,” Trump said in his Truth Social post.
The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday disputed Trump’s assertion that a ceasefire was agreed to without providing any details, and Thai defense ministry spokesperson Surasant Kongsiri said clashes were still ongoing. Cambodia’s defense ministry reported that Thailand continued to carry out strikes early Saturday. Those strikes could not be independently verified.
After speaking with Trump on Friday but before the U.S. president's social media posting, Anutin said he reiterated to Trump that Thailand’s position was to keep fighting until Cambodia no longer posed a threat to its sovereignty.
“I told him that he had better talk to our friend. Don’t just say that we have to stop fighting," Anutin said. "You should announce to the world that Cambodia will stop firing, will withdraw their forces, will clear all land mines. Please show us the actions.”
Trump wrote in his Friday social media post, “The roadside bomb that originally killed and wounded numerous Thai Soldiers was an accident, but Thailand nevertheless retaliated very strongly."
The comment was an apparent reference to recent land mine explosions along the border that triggered tensions between the two countries.
The Thai army reported multiple injuries from the explosions but no deaths and Anutin on Saturday refuted Trump's characterization.
“It’s definitely not a roadside accident," Anutin said Saturday morning on his Facebook account. "Thailand will continue to perform military actions until we feel no more harm and threats to our land and people. I want to make it clear. Our actions this morning already spoke.”
Trump, a Republican, said Malaysia's prime minister had played an important role in helping him push Thailand and Cambodia to once again agree to "resolving what could have evolved into a major War between two otherwise wonderful and prosperous Countries!”
The original ceasefire in July was brokered by Malaysia and pushed through by pressure from Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless Thailand and Cambodia agreed. It was formalized in more detail in October at a regional meeting in Malaysia that Trump attended.
Despite the deal, the two countries carried on a bitter propaganda war and minor cross-border violence continued.
The roots of the Thai-Cambodian border conflict lie in a history of enmity over competing territorial claims. These claims largely stem from a 1907 map created while Cambodia was under French colonial rule, which Thailand maintains is inaccurate. Tensions were exacerbated by a 1962 International Court of Justice ruling that awarded sovereignty to Cambodia, which still riles many Thais.
Thailand has deployed jet fighters to carry out airstrikes on what it says are military targets. Cambodia has deployed BM-21 rocket launchers with a range of 30-40 kilometers (19-25 miles).
According to data collected by public broadcaster ThaiPBS, at least six of the Thai soldiers who were killed were hit by rocket shrapnel.
The Thai army’s northeastern regional command said Thursday that some residential areas and homes near the border were damaged by BM-21 rocket launchers from Cambodian forces.
The Thai army also said it destroyed a tall crane atop a hill held by Cambodia where the centuries-old Preah Vihear temple is located, because it allegedly held electronic and optical devices used for military command and control purposes.
Trump has repeatedly made the exaggerated claim that he has helped solve eight conflicts, including the one between Thailand and Cambodia, since returning to office in January, as evidence of his negotiating prowess. And he's not been shy about his desire to be recognized with a Nobel Peace Prize.
In an exchange with reporters later Friday, Trump credited his administration with doing a “a very good job” with its push to stem the renewed fighting.
“And we got it, I think, straightened out today,” Trump said at an unrelated event in the Oval Office. “So Thailand and Cambodia is in good shape.”
Another ceasefire that Trump takes credit for working out, between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, is also under strain, just after the leaders of the African nations traveled to Washington to sign a peace deal.
A joint statement released by the International Contact Group for the Great Lakes expressed “profound concern” over the situation in Congo’s South Kivu region, where new deadly violence blamed on the Rwandan-backed M23 militia group has exploded in recent days.
The Great Lakes contact group — which includes Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States and the European Union — has urged all sides “to uphold their commitments” under the deal signed last week and “immediately de-escalate the situation.”
And Trump's internationally endorsed plan to end the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza is still not finalized and in limbo, with sporadic fighting continuing while a critical second phase remains a work in progress.
AP writer Jintamas Saksornchai reported from Surin, Thailand. Grant Peck in Bangkok and Matthew Lee contributed reporting.
President Donald Trump speaks during a signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump speaks during a signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump gestures during a signing ceremony on an AI initiative in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump speaks to guests in the Grand Foyer of the White House during the Congressional Ball, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
