MEMPHIS – Grizzlies star guard Ja Morant is listed as questionable for Friday’s SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament elimination game against the Mavericks after sitting out Thursday’s practice to maximize rest, recovery and treatment for his sore right ankle.
Grizzlies interim coach Tuomas Iisalo said Morant’s status is a “legitimate game-time decision,” meaning Morant will test the ankle in pregame workouts Friday to determine if he’s able to play.
The Grizzlies host the Mavericks at FedExForum with a trip to the NBA Playoffs at stake. The winner secures the Western Conference’s No. 8 and final playoff seed and advances to face the No. 1-seed Thunder in a first round series that opens Sunday in Oklahoma City.
“My feel with him is that he will do absolutely everything in order to play, and if he’s physically able to do it, you know, he’ll do it,” Iisalo said of Morant’s approach. “But it’s a legitimate game-time decision. If he feels good to go, we have trust in him and he’s also a very good judge of if he’s ready to go or not. Everybody obviously hopes that he is able to go.”
Morant turned his right ankle when he landed after being fouled on a baseline shot attempt late in the third quarter of Tuesday’s road loss at Golden State. Morant briefly remained in the game to take his free throws but then left to receive extensive treatment on the bench.
He later returned to play most of the fourth quarter, visibly hobbling at times on the way to finishing with 22 points in 35 minutes. That game allowed the Warriors to hold onto the No. 7 seed and sent them into a first-round matchup with the No. 2 seed Rockets.
The loss pushed the Grizzlies into Friday’s elimination game with the Mavericks, who kept their postseason alive with a blowout road victory at Sacramento on Wednesday. Immediately after Tuesday’s game at Golden State, Morant declared emphatically he would play Friday.
On Thursday, Morant attended the team’s workout in sweatpants and a tee shirt as he watched teammates go through post-practice shooting drills. During the stage of practice that was open to the media, Morant did not appear to wear a walking boot or any restrictive gear on his foot.
Morant battled through shoulder soreness and a hamstring strain over the course of the season. The Grizzlies were 30-20 with Morant available, and he is in the midst of his most productive stretch. That includes a recent 10-game span in which the dynamic guard averaged 30.3 points.
The Grizzlies will need Morant’s playmaking and penchant for scoring in the paint against a defiant Dallas team that refuses to bow out quietly after its controversial trade of superstar Luka Doncic. The Mavericks acquired All-NBA power forward Anthony Davis in that February deal with the Lakers, but also endured a season-ending knee injury to perennial All-Star Kyrie Irving.
The Mavericks showed flashes of their firepower, dominant defense and offensive potential in their 120-106 victory over the Kings. Davis, Klay Thompson and P.J. Washington combined for 67 points and 23 rebounds in the win. They now come to Memphis with a shot to become the first team seeded tenth to advance to the playoffs in the Play-In Tournament era.
The Grizzlies look to prevent that from happening and hope to reverse a late slide that saw them stumble from second in the West standings to eighth by the end of the regular season.
“It’s win or go home – simple as that,” said Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane, who is coming off a team-high 30 points Tuesday at Golden State. “They (Mavericks) have a lot of size that can give us some problems offensively and defensively. It’s a good matchup, a tough matchup.”
The Grizzlies were 3-1 against the Mavericks in the regular season, but both teams insist there isn’t much to learn from those matchups because of roster changes. Memphis has yet to face Dallas with Davis in the lineup. The Grizzlies defeated the Mavericks 132-97 in the regular season finale last Sunday as both teams sat most of their primary rotation players.
There’s a different level of urgency heading into Friday’s winner-moves-on matchup.
“We can’t lose here,” said Grizzlies All-Star power forward Jaren Jackson Jr., who distributed 500 tickets to fans lined up outside FedExForum after Thursday’s practice. “It’s great to be home playing a game of this magnitude.”
The Grizzlies have one final shot at home to maximize the moment and make the playoffs.