The Grizzlies’ hopes at pulling even with the Warriors in the Western Conference Semifinals took a major hit on Sunday, as All-Star point guard Ja Morant appears unlikely to play in Game 4.
Memphis officially listed Morant as “doubtful” for Monday’s contest just over 24 hours before tip-off. The 22-year-old appeared on the team’s injury report with “right knee soreness.”
The official updates come just hours after Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said that Morant would “probably” not play in Game 4. He revealed that the All-Star was undergoing further evaluation on his knee and planned to undergo additional treatment in the coming days.
Morant gingerly walked off the floor late in Memphis’s 142–112 loss to Golden State in Saturday’s Game 3. He was then seen limping around the Chase Center postgame, though no official diagnosis was provided by the Grizzlies at the time.
Morant’s injury seemed to occur in the fourth quarter when Warriors guard Jordan Poole appeared to grab and yank at the 22-year-old’s right knee while trying to strip the ball. Already suspicious of the circumstances around the play, Jenkins made clear Sunday that he believed Poole was the direct cause of the injury. Morant concurred, tweeting and eventually deleting a video of the play and writing that the Warriors guard “broke the code” among NBA players.
Despite protests from the Grizzlies, the NBA ruled that there would not be an additional punishment for Poole following the foul. The Warriors guard was adamant that the knee grab was not intentional and that he was reaching for the ball at the time.
Trailing 2–1 in the series, Memphis will now likely face a tougher task in Game 4, barring a remarkable recovery from Morant. The Grizzlies supporting cast will need to step up in a major way or the team will risk falling even deeper into a hole on Monday night.
