The Memphis Grizzlies feared the worst when emerging star Ja Morant went down with a knee injury Friday night, but the team was relieved to find out that it’s a sprain, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Morant, 22, went down on a seemingly innocuous play in the first quarter against the Atlanta Hawks. He was helped to the locker room, putting no weight on his left knee and he amplified concerns with a tweet that said in part, “All we can do is pray.”
“I think seeing the way that he went off the floor kind of sent shockwaves through the team,” Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said after the team’s 132-100 loss to Atlanta, via ESPN. “The Hawks played really, really well. We had a lot of looks that didn’t fall. Definitely the mojo was kind of lost.”
There’s no timetable yet for the return of the third-year point guard, but Wojnarowski says the Grizzlies will have a better idea after he undergoes more testing. A year ago, Morant suffered an ankle injury in December that was expected to keep him out as many as five weeks, but he impressed by returning to action in just under three weeks.
In 19 games this season, Morant has averaged 24.1 points, 6.8 assists, and 5.6 rebounds per game. The Grizzlies fell to 9-10 on the year with the Friday night loss to the Hawks.
