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Memphis Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant is ready to miss game 4 of his team’s second-round series against the Golden State Warriors with right knee pain. Morant injured his knee in the second half of Saturday’s Game 3 loss to the Warriors.
Jenkins confirmed the injury occurred when Warriors shooting guard Jordan Poole pulled Morant’s knee when he apparently slides down the ball. The moment came with 6:19 remaining in the fourth quarter, and Morant was removed from the game then.
Morant tweeted after Poole “broke the code,” but quickly deleted that tweet. It was in reference to what Warriors coach Steve Kerr said about Grizzlies wing Dillon Brooks being suspended for Game 3 after committing a flagrant foul on Warriors guard Gary Payton II in Game 2, who suffered a broken elbow on the play. While Brooks was suspended one game for his part in Payton II’s injury, Poole will remain face no punishment of the league for his actions.
Warriors guard Klay Thompson wasn’t happy with Morant’s accusation. “Me, personally. I’ve been through a tough knee injury. And I don’t think there was any malicious intent on Jordan’s part,” Thompson said. “I don’t even think it’s strong enough to affect someone’s knee, but we’re not trying to hurt people or trying to hit people in the back of the head on a fast break. We play the game the way correct”.
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Morant has been excellent in this series, averaging 38.3 points, 8.3 assists and 6.7 rebounds per game, but the Grizzlies have managed to survive without Morant for most of the season. Memphis went 20-5 without Morant during the regular season, helping them win the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference in the process. However, things have been more difficult in this series. The Grizzlies have played 29 minutes without Morant against Golden State and have lost those minutes by 32 points. Tyus Jones will probably start in Morant’s place if he can’t actually play. Brooks should also return to the starting lineup with his suspension served.
Golden State leads the series 2-1, and by winning Game 1 in Memphis, they stole home-court advantage from the Grizzlies. Memphis needed to win at least one of the last two games in San Francisco to win this series, and with Morant expected to miss Game 4, that will be much more difficult.
