The Memphis Grizzlies got thrashed by the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night during Game 3 of their second round series. While suffering a 142-112 loss is never a good thing, the much bigger concern facing the Grizzlies the health of All-Star guard Ja Morant, who left the game while things were essentially done and dusted in the fourth quarter.
via: Complex
Morant got injured late in the fourth quarter and was visibly limping off the court during a timeout. After the game, he tweeted and deleted a clip of his apparent knee injury. He wrote “broke the code,” in reference to Warriors coach Steve Kerr saying Dillon Brooks “broke the code” when he earned a flagrant 2 foul for a hard hit on Gary Payton II in Game 2.
Ja Morant reacted to Jordan Poole grabbing his knee.
(via @JaMorant) pic.twitter.com/9XhvkPfYxG
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 8, 2022
Grizzles head coach Taylor Jenkins seems to think it was intentional and that his knee was “yanked.” Jenkins says Morant is being evaluated.
“He was going after a dribble and Jordan Poole grabbed his knee and yanked it,” Jenkins said. “I’m going to be very curious to see what happens after that.”
Ja Morant leaving the arena with a visible limp. He did not take any questions from the media. @NBATV @NBAonTNT #Ja pic.twitter.com/uZztkSIChW
— Jared Greenberg (@JaredSGreenberg) May 8, 2022
During the postgame presser, Poole was shown the video of him allegedly grabbing Morant’s knee. He said,
“It was a basketball play…I hit the ball and I was going for the ball. Obviously you don’t want to see anybody get hurt. I’m not even that type of player. I respect everybody. Hopefully he gets better.”
https://youtu.be/hqQu1gfmiKs
Morant had 34 points, three rebounds, seven assists and three steals before his injury. He got everyone excited when he hit a shot at half court before the buzzer.
Ja was frustrated after an apparent injury on this play.
Hope he's okay ? pic.twitter.com/aXt1GNFkSQ
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 8, 2022
Game 4 is scheduled for Monday at Chase Center at 10 p.m. ET, with the Warriors leading the series 2-1.
Ja Morant deleted his tweet shortly after it went up. Here it is via a screenshot:
