Ja Morant leaves Game 3 after re-injuring his troublesome knee late in Game 3.
SAN FRANCISCO – While still awaiting official word from their medical staff about Ja Morant’s right knee, the Memphis Grizzlies remained pessimistic about his availability for Monday’s Game 4 (10 ET, TNT) of their Western Conference semifinals series against the Golden State Warriors.
“There is a really good chance he doesn’t play tomorrow,” Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins said.
Jenkins reached that conclusion based on conversations with the Grizzlies’ medical staff. But he stressed that Morant is “getting further evaluated right now.” Nonetheless, Jenkins said that Morant did not participate in the team’s film session and optional shooting workouts.
Morant sat for the final 6:19 of Golden State’s 142-112 victory in Game 3 win after colliding knees with Warriors guard Jordan Poole. Poole appeared to grab Morant’s knee while chasing a loose ball.
Jenkins said that Zach Kleiman, vice president of basketball operations for the Grizzlies, contacted the league office about reviewing the play. But the NBA declined to hand out any punishment and considered the play to be a normal basketball play.
“Just trying to be matter of fact here,” Jenkins said. “This is what Ja says. This is what our medical team has said after reviewing the play. Ja was playing great and feeling great all game. The grab of the knee is what triggered the potential injury and why we took Ja out of the game. So, nothing has changed from there in terms of that was the play that triggered this.”
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Mark Medina is a senior writer/analyst for NBA.com. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.
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