Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant suffered bone bruise, doubtful for remainder of playoffs
The Memphis Grizzlies have provided an update on star Ja Morant‘s injury, calling him doubtful for the remainder of the NBA playoffs. Morant injured his knee in Game 3 of their tense playoff series with the Golden State Warriors, and was ruled out for Game 4. Now, the Grizzlies have provided an additional update on his status — stating that he has a bone bruise in his knee.
Ja Morant doubtful for remainder of playoffs
“Grizzlies say Ja Morant has bone bruise in his knee and is doubtful for remainder of the playoffs,” stated The Athletic’s Shams Charania on Tuesday.
The simple update wasn’t completely unexpected, but it a huge blow to Memphis fans who were hoping that Morant would return to the court for Game 5. Memphis is down 3-1 in their series, facing elimination at home on Wednesday.
Morant’s injury was originally called a result of a play where Warriors guard Jordan Poole grabbed Morant’s knee while reaching for the basketball, according to Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins. It’s unclear if this is the exact moment the injury occurred or if it was exaggerated, but it accelerated the bad blood between the teams after the first two games saw ejections.
Game 1 featured an early ejection for Draymond Green after he swiped down into Brandon Clarke’s while defending a shot attempt. Game 2 saw Dillon Brooks make a dangerous fast break foul on Gary Payton II as he took a layup, resulting in an ejection and one-game suspension for Brooks after Payton was ruled out with an elbow fracture. Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after the game that Brooks “broke the code” when he committed his foul, very upset with the result of the play.
While the injury to Morant didn’t involve any major contact or draw any additional penalties, Morant shared video of his knee being grabbed by Poole after the game with the caption “broke the code” in retaliation to Kerr’s comments. The incident prompted a war of words between the teams, with Klay Thompson directly challenging that Brooks’ foul on Payton was far worse.
“Me, personally, I’ve been through a tough knee injury,” said Thompson. “And I don’t think there’s any malicious intent from Jordan. I don’t even think he’s strong enough to affect somebody’s knee but we’re not out there trying to hurt people or trying to club people in the back of the head on a fast break. We play the game the right way.”