Grizzlies star Ja Morant’s status for Game 4 vs. Warriors in doubt
Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins said Ja Morant underwent an MRI but
declined to share what the test revealed.
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – MAY 7: Memphis Grizzlies’ Ja Morant
struggles for the ball between Golden State Warriors’ Jordan Poole and
Andrew Wiggins in the fourth quarter of Game 3 of a second-round NBA
basketball playoff series at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on
Saturday, May 7, 2022. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – MAY 7: Memphis Grizzlies’ Ja Morant
struggles for the ball between Golden State Warriors’ Jordan Poole and
Andrew Wiggins in the fourth quarter of Game 3 of a second-round NBA
basketball playoff series at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on
Saturday, May 7, 2022. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
By MADELINE KENNEY | mkenney@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: May 9, 2022 at 12:57 p.m. | UPDATED: May 9, 2022 at 1:26 p.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/05/09/grizzlies-star-ja-morants-status-for-game-4-vs-warriors-in-doubt/

SAN FRANCISCO — Ja Morant’s status for Game 4 of the Western Conference
semifinals series against the Warriors on Monday night is in doubt as
the Grizzlies star deals with soreness in his right knee.

Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins said Morant underwent an MRI but declined
to share what the test revealed.

“He’s doubtful for tonight. He’s still going under evaluation right now,
so that’s all I can share,” Jenkins said Monday after shootaround.

Jenkins said Morant was “not really doing much” at shootaround Monday
afternoon. The All-Star guard was spotted at Chase Center sitting
courtside wearing gray sweats and slides while on his phone as other
Grizzlies players took shots.

Jenkins said it’s “to be determined” whether Morant will try to warm up
or do anything to prepare for Game 4. He also said the team’s medical
staff is “still working through” determining the severity of Morant’s
injury.

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Morant purportedly injured his right knee Saturday night during a play
in the fourth quarter of Game 3 when Warriors guard Jordan Poole
appeared to grab Morant’s knee during a trap at half-court. Jenkins has
insinuated that Poole purposely grabbed and “yanked” Morant’s knee,
though Poole said he was just trying to make a “basketball play” and
that he was attempting to reach at the ball.

Several other Grizzlies and Warriors players have come to the defense of
Poole, acknowledging that the result of the play is unfortunate though
Poole’s actions were not malicious or dirty.

Meanwhile, Morant made his feelings about the play clear, tweeting a
video of the play with the caption “broke the code,” a reference to
Warriors coach Steve Kerr’s comments in response to Dillon Brooks’ hard
foul on Gary Payton II that caused the Golden State guard to break his
elbow in Game 2. Morant deleted the tweet shortly after posting it.

Jenkins said Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman has been in
communication with the NBA league office about the play. But the league
will not suspend Poole for Game 4, which tips off at 7 p.m. Monday at
Chase Center, or fine him for the incident.

Morant is listed as “doubtful” on the Grizzlies’ injury report. If he
does end up playing in Game 4, the NBA could look into whether the
Grizzlies violated the league’s injury reporting rules. The Phoenix Suns
and Philadelphia 76ers have both been fined up to $50,000 this
postseason for failing to disclose a player’s participation status “in
an accurate and timely manner” ahead of games.

The Grizzlies are 20-5 without Morant this season. Jenkins said Memphis’
game plan doesn’t change if Morant is unable to play.

“I always say it’s not about doing more, it’s just doing better,”
Jenkins said. “It’s just executing our system better on the offensive
end, the way we play with pace and share the ball. Guys elevated their
games during those stretches and then defensively, obviously, we did not
play to our standard the last game. We just got to play to our standard…
with the effort, the urgency, attention to detail, we just got to scrap
out there, we’ve got to rotate, we got to fly around. This is a tough
cover for us but it’s obviously playoff basketball, we just got to raise
our level.”

The Grizzlies are looking to even the best-of-seven series, which the
Warriors currently lead 2-1, before it heads back to Memphis for Game 5
on Wednesday.

Reporter Shayna Rubin contributed to this report.

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Madeline Kenney | Warriors reporter