David Chao, MD
2 min read • April 19, 2023
Posted in
Update: Morant has been ruled out for Game 2 against the Lakers with right hand soreness. Despite him missing Wednesday's game, the Pro Basketball Docs remain optimistic he will be available soon for the Grizzlies. Game 3 takes place on Saturday in Los Angeles.
One of the NBA’s most exciting players, Ja Morant, reaggravated his hand/finger injury in Game 1 of the team’s first-round matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers.
“As of right now being treated more as a pain tolerance injury… He felt that it was a 10/10 when it comes to pain, so his status is still very much up in the air for Game 2 on Wednesday,” Shams Charania said on FanDuelTV.
By video on Sunday, the Pro Basketball Docs were confident that Morant did not have a fracture in his hand after the fall.
There's no doubt his hand is injured, but our panel of doctors have cautious optimism that he will play on Wednesday against the Lakers. His SIC score is 85.
The biggest impact of the injury will be shooting, which Morant shot a career-high from 3-point range this season, but finishing at the rim shouldn’t be affected.
“The MRI of his injury definitely showed a reaggravation of his injury that he had in the Milwaukee game,” Memphis Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins said. “He’s dealing with some pain and soreness.
“We will see how he wakes up tomorrow.”
The Grizzlies are down one game in their first-round series against the Lakers, and Morant might feel the pressure of a must-win game. 442 times an NBA has gone down 0-2 in a series. The team going down 0-2 has lost the series 410 times, or 92.8 percent of the time, per LandofBasketball.com.
Before reinjuring his hand, Morant had 18 points, six rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
This season he’s averaging 26.2 points, 8.1 assists, and 5.9 rebounds per game.
The Lakers head coach Darvin Ham spoke to the media about the team’s plans:
"We don't try to assume anything or try to make any predictions," Ham said. "We just make sure we cover Plan A, Plan B. Plan A, he plays; Plan B, what type of adjustments they'll make. And obviously they have their lineups that they play with without him when he's been hurt in the past. So the biggest thing for us is to more so focus on what we're doing."
Luckily for the Grizzlies, they have one of the best backup point guards in the NBA, Tyus Jones, to help take the load off of Morant if he decides to play.
Memphis is a one-point underdog at home in Game 2 and the over/under is 226.5, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
The Grizzlies are +3900 to win the NBA Finals, while the Lakers are +1600.
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Written by David Chao, MD
