Grizzlies guard Ja Morant out with knee injury for Game 4

Mon, May 9, 2022
Other News (AP)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant is out for Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Golden State Warriors with a right knee injury.

Coach Taylor Jenkins made the announcement during his pregame media session Monday night. Just more than an hour before game time, Morant posted on Twitter simply an emoji of a bear.

Jenkins said Morant would still be considered day to day while undergoing further evaluation and treatment. So his status is unclear for Wednesday's Game 4 back in Memphis. The team has called it soreness in the right knee for Morant, who missed time during the season with the injury.

"We're going to continue to work with our doctors on trying to figure out what's going on," said Jenkins, calling Morant "disappointed" but also in good spirits.

The Grizzlies are 20-5 without the All-Star this season. He scored 47 points in Memphis' 106-101 Game 2 win.

Morant had been listed as doubtful to play after re-injuring his troublesome knee on a play with Jordan Poole that the teams have debated from the Grizzlies' 142-112 loss Saturday night that gave Golden State a 2-1 edge in the best-of-seven series.

Morant limped off with 6:19 remaining in the game after Poole grabbed at the knee on a play the Warriors guard said was simply an effort to strip the ball.

Afterward, Morant posted and later deleted a video of the play on his Twitter feed with the words "broke the code," a reference Warriors coach Steve Kerr had used five days earlier when Dillon Brooks' hard foul in Game 2 sidelined Gary Payton II.

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