Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant is a game-time decision for Game 2 against the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night, coach Taylor Jenkins said on Tuesday.
“An MRI yesterday showed an aggravation of the bruising in the soft tissue in Ja Morant’s hand, an injury originally suffered vs. Bucks in last week of regular season,” wrote ESPN's Tim McMahon on Tuesday. “He did some shooting and dribbling today.”
Officially, the Grizzlies are now listing Ja as questionable to play, which is in line with coach Jenkins' previous update.
Morant played in Game 1 with his hand lightly wrapped due to an injury suffered on April 7, but he was not listed on the official injury report for the series opener.
Although he had no limitations due to the sore hand, he hurt it again when it slammed on the court with 5:48 remaining in the fourth quarter after he fell charging into Lakers big man Anthony Davis.
Morant scored 18 points before exiting the game, while recently dubbed Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson scored 31 for Memphis. The Grizzlies ended up losing both Morant and the game. Unfortunately for the, they will be in rough shape if they go down 2-0 heading to Los Angeles.
“I'm told there are no breaks, no fractures in Ja Morant's hand, it's as of right now being treated like more of a pain tolerance injury,” Shams Charania said on FanDuel TV. “Something that they're going to continue to monitor [Tuesday], it's clearly severe and painful enough to where Ja said the other night it was a 10 out of 10 when it comes to pain.”
Charania confirmed that Morant's status is still very much up in the air for Wednesday night's game at FedEx Forum, although ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski said on Tuesday that there isn't a lot of optimism that the star will play.
There are clearly conflicting reports surrounding the availability of Grizzlies' Ja Morant, and more clarity likely won't come until closer to tipoff against the Lakers on Wednesday.
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