Ja Morant paced behind the Memphis Grizzlies bench, favoring his right ankle after stepping on the foot of Golden State Warriors guard Buddy Hield during the third quarter of the play-in game Tuesday night, April 15, at the Chase Center.
There wasn’t much dialogue with Grizzlies interim coach Tuomas Iisalo. Morant and Iisalo both knew that he would return to the game. The only question was when.
The star guard did indeed return in the fourth quarter as the Grizzlies were fighting back from what had been a 20-point deficit, but Golden State pulled out the 121-116 win.
“Seeing him in that situation, to me, that generation that still remembers Isiah Thomas hopping around on one ankle,” Iisalo said. “It wasn’t quite that. Hopefully it’s not as severe. I have no information on that. It was inspiring, and I think it also lifted the guys up to see that your leader is putting it all on the line.”
After the game, Morant still had a noticeable limp. Ankle injuries aren’t necessarily new for him. Earlier this season, there were moments when he returned to games after hurting his ankle, but wasn’t able to play in the next game.
Memphis has two days off. Morant plans on participating in everything his teammates do leading up to Friday’s home play-in game against the winner of Wednesday’s play-in between the Dallas Mavericks and Sacramento Kings.
“I’m playing,” Morant said. “That’s basically the answer I’m giving. It ain’t nothing different.”
Ja Morant’s play after the ankle injury
When Morant returned against Golden State with 9:26 to go in the game, he knocked down a midrange jumper on the first possession. As the game went on, he was clearly hobbled.
With the game going back and forth in the final minutes, it’s usually time for the Grizzlies to go to Morant. However, he took his final shot with 3:44 left in the game. At that point, the Grizzlies trailed by three.
Desmond Bane starred in the third quarter by scoring 11 points and helping Memphis claw back from a 12-point halftime deficit. With Bane having a strong second half (he totaled 30 points), Morant was comfortable deferring.
“Yeah, we was just rolling with the hot hand,” said Morant, who finished with 22 points. “I trust those guys like they trust me.”
