It’s only Game 1 of the NBA playoffs, but the Lakers and Grizzlies have already had some serious injury scares. In the first-half, Davis went to the locker room to nurse his shoulder after a zinger left him in severe discomfort.
In the second half, it was Ja Morant who suffered an injury after breaking an ugly fall with his hand late into the fourth quarter.
Ja Morant ran to the locker room in pain — grabbing his already wrapped right hand — after getting called for a charge with 5:48 remaining. Looked like he broke his fall with that hand.
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) April 16, 2023
Ja Morant exits the game with a hand injury. Looks pretty severe pic.twitter.com/zov2gOLcqs
— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) April 16, 2023
Ja looked to be in a lot of pain coming down the court, and we know it had to be pretty intense for him to take himself off the floor with a playoff game on the line.
As we wait for word on the severity of Ja’s injury, many find themselves re-considering the result of the series. Without Morant, the Grizzlies can still make it a good series, but it’s going to be tough to beat the Lakers without their superstar point guard.
What’s Next For The Grizzlies?
Fortunately, Ja returned to the Grizzlies’ bench, but it remains to be seen if he’ll be at full strength when he returns to the court. For this series, if Ja is less than 100%, they will have to rely on Desmond Bane and others to step up and fill the void.
If not, we can expect Memphis to be aggressive in getting better over the summer to give themselves more depth and a bigger cushion to survive when a major player on the team goes down.
But as long as Ja is healthy and staying out of trouble, the Grizzlies will stay relevant for years to come.
“Ja Morant, I mean, is that a trick question? Of course, it’s Ja Morant,” Stephen A. Smith said on First Take. “That’s exactly who I expect to ball out. I’m not telling you that Anthony Davis is going to have a bad series. This brother can average 28 and 10 in his sleep. But Ja Morant, his play, his electrifying talent, and the ability it has to galvanize and inspire and elevate those around him, I think could be an x-factor in this series, particularly with them having home-court advantage.”
Only time will tell us how this plays out for Memphis, but Ja is the key to a successful future, and they will only go as far as he takes them.
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