Ja Morant leaves Grizzlies-Nets game in wheelchair with ankle injury
Memphis Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant left Monday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets in a wheelchair with an ankle injury.
Morant suffered the injury while attempting to block a jump shot by Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot late in the second quarter. He rolled his left ankle when he landed and immediately hopped off the court in pain before collapsing near the baseline.
Moments later, he left the court in a wheelchair.
Ja was taken off the floor in a wheelchair after an apparent lower leg injury
Prayers up 🙏 pic.twitter.com/OBY7QVjAcK— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 29, 2020
Morant ruled out with ankle sprain
The Grizzlies announced after halftime that Morant suffered a left ankle sprain and would not return to the game.
He returned to the Grizzlies bench in the second half wearing a medical boot on his left leg.
Ja Morant.
Cheville enveloppée dans une botte de protection, il vient de rejoindre ses coéquipiers sur le banc. This guy. pic.twitter.com/udHuky2LkG— TrashTalk (@TrashTalk_fr) December 29, 2020
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that X-Rays on Morant’s ankle came back negative and that he’s scheduled for an MRI on Tuesday.
Morant is off to a red-hot start to the new NBA season on the heels of his 2019-20 Rookie of the Year campaign. Through two games, Morant is averaging 36 points, eight assists and two rebounds while shooting 58.3 percent from the field.
He scored a career-high 44 points in Wednesday’s season-opener against the Spurs.
Another injury blow for Grizzlies
Any amount of missed time by Morant will be an obvious blow for the Grizzlies in a hyper-competitive Western Conference.
The Grizzlies are already down another key player with forward Jaren Jackson Jr. sidelined indefinitely since the preseason with a knee injury. Jackson sprained his left knee in February and suffered a torn meniscus in the same knee in August, requiring surgery.
Forward Justice Winslow is also sidelined with a lingering hip injury that knocked him out of the NBA’s summer restart in the bubble. Winslow has yet to play with the Grizzlies since arriving to Memphis in a February trade from the Miami Heat.
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