Things are getting spicy between the Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Lakers.

A second-quarter sequence between Ja Morant and LeBron James led to the Grizzlies point guard bumping James in the back and picking up a technical foul.

Morant drove to the basket and scored over Lakers guard Gabe Vincent before lowering his hand to the ground and signaling the "too small" gesture.

James later returned the favor. While isolated against Morant, James lowered his shoulder into the smaller Grizzlies guard and scored over him, pulling out the same gesture.

While getting back to his feet, Morant laughed before taking the ball up the floor and scoring against the Lakers. After the basket, Morant ran in the direction of James and bumped him in the back just enough for the referees to stop action and issue a technical foul.

Things have been boiling between the Lakers and Grizzlies for the past couple of seasons. James called the Grizzlies out in 2022 for their trash talking and later helped the Lakers defeat Memphis in the first round of the 2023 playoffs.

Grizzlies players weren't too pleased last season when James had a breakaway dunk near the end of a Lakers win in April in Memphis and posed in front of a group of injured players that included Morant, Desmond Bane and Luke Kennard.

Wednesday's sequence at FedExForum is the latest and probably won't be the last competitive sequence between these two Western Conference contenders.

Damichael Cole is the Memphis Grizzlies beat writer for The Commercial Appeal. Contact Damichael at damichael.cole@commercialappeal.com. Follow Damichael on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DamichaelC.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Grizzlies' Ja Morant gets technical after bumping Lakers' LeBron James