Ja Morant In Danger Of Missing Grizzlies-Lakers Game 2
The Memphis Grizzlies lost Game 1 of their first-round series against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday and in this game, they also lost superstar guard Ja Morant.
About halfway through the fourth quarter, Morant landed hard on his right hand after going up for a layup attempt and was in a lot of pain before asking out of the game and heading to the team's locker room.
After the game, the Grizzlies star talked about how he was still dealing with a lot of pain and could barely utilize his hand to perform certain tasks.
Now, it appears as if Ja Morant's status for Wednesday night's Game 2 against the Lakers is in doubt, as ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski provided an update on his status on Monday:
"First of all, let's start with this. Memphis is going to do everything they can to hold this close to the vest between now and Wednesday night. It's a competitive advantage in the playoffs to not let your opponent know who may or may not be playing. But I think certainly for Ja Morant, he talked about it yesterday, how much pain he was in leaving the game. It was a hand that was already wrapped and then re-injures it. The Grizzlies know if he doesn't play Wednesday, they have Tyus Jones. They have as good of a backup point guard in the league, a player that certainly can run their offense well enough to be competitive in the postseason. They don't play again until Saturday in a Game 3 in L.A. That gives them five days rest potentially with Ja Morant, but there is no question there is significant doubt about Ja Morant being able to play coming back on Wednesday, but certainly he will get treatment and rest. When he measured the pain yesterday and said 10 out of 10, typically players under play injuries this time of the year. Ja Morant did not pretend to do any of that yesterday." - ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski
As things stand right now, it seems like the Grizzlies are leaning towards the idea of Ja Morant not being available for Game 2 against the Lakers on Wednesday, but they will not rule him out until the very last minute as Wojnarowski noted because they do not want to give the Lakers an early advantage.
The good news for the Grizzlies is that they have been successful without Morant on the floor through the years, primarily because Tyus Jones has proven to be one of the best backup point guards in the entire league.
Jones stepped up numerous times this season in place of Morant and should he be elevated to the starting rotation once again, Memphis will continue with their game plan as usual.
As far as Morant's long-term status in this series, he will likely be considered day-to-day and game-to-game as he gets rest and treatment for his right hand injury.
At this time, Memphis has yet to release their injury report for Game 2 on Wednesday.
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