Despite their five-point win over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday, Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies find themselves in a less-than-enviable position. That victory came with the Nets resting both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.
More than that, the Grizzlies are now going to be without their best player and the reigning NBA Rookie of the Year for the next several weeks. Morant suffered an ugly-looking leg injury in the second quarter of Monday’s game. He had to be helped off the court on a wheelchair before returning to the bench with a walking boot on.
We now have more information on the Morant injury. While it’s not as severe as we first believed when the injury occurred, the star guard will miss a considerable amount of time.
“In Monday’s game against the Nets, Ja Morant exited late in the second quarter after contesting a field goal attempt of Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and landing on Luwawu-Cabarrot’s foot. Further imaging revealed a Grade 2 ankle sprain, with an expected recovery time of 3-5 weeks,” the Grizzlies announced, via their official website.”
To say that this is a big loss would be an understatement. Morant averaged 36 points per game in his first two outings before leaving Monday’s game with an injury. The former No. 2 pick was the unquestioned NBA Rookie of the Year last season, averaging 17.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 7.3 assists on stellar 48% shooting from the field.
For the Grizzlies, the Morant injury is even more devastating with fellow stud youngster Jaren Jackson Jr. still sidelined after suffering a knee injury during the NBA resumption in Orlando last season.
The Grizzlies are already pretty much in full-scale rebuild mode with Morant and Jackson leading the way. Being without their star guard for up to the next five weeks during what is a truncated 72-game season is not a great thing.
With Morant out of action, the Grizzlies are going to have a hard time finding someone to score. Dillon Brooks is Memphis' second-leading scorer through three games at 19.7 points per.
More must-reads: