[ad_1]
The Nets caught a break that Kevin Durant will not appreciate.
Ja Morant, one of the brightest young stars in the game and one Durant raved about a day earlier, will miss Wednesday’s game against the Nets with right knee soreness, the Grizzlies said Tuesday.
The 22-year-old exited Friday’s game in Atlanta with knee soreness and will sit for a second straight game, elevating the Nets’ chances of winning but likely disappointing Durant and Nets fans who wanted to catch a glimpse of the show.
The electric point guard has taken a leap in his third NBA season and become one of the very best in the game. He already was dubbed a “future Hall of Famer” by Durant — actually, the Nets star said the Grizzlies star is a few different Hall of Famers wrapped up in one.
“When he’s playing,” Durant said Monday, ahead of the Nets visiting Memphis, “I see two, three, four different Hall of Famers in his game.”
At full health, Morant can beat teams by blowing past them, by outjumping them or outshooting them. He always seems to be the best athlete on a court of athletic phenoms.
“From [Allen] Iverson, he might make a [Michael] Jordan-like layup or he might run down the court like a [Russell] Westbrook or [Derrick] Rose,” Durant said of Morant, who was an All-Star for the first time this season. “His float game is up there with some of the best that’s ever played.”
As the point guard’s play has jumped (27.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 6.7 assists per game), the Grizzlies (49-23) have filled out around him and become a contender in the West, entering the matchup alone in second place. Without Morant, Memphis will ask more of wings Desmond Bane and Dillon Brooks.
Durant and the Nets had seen Morant up close once this season — when the former Murray State star went off for 36 points in 34 minutes of a Grizzlies win on Jan. 3 — and unless the teams meet in the Finals, they won’t see him again.
“I think the sky’s the limit for him. His future is obviously bright,” Durant said. “He makes everyone better playing — even opponents. It’s about the level you approach that game.”
Seth Curry, who suffered a sprained left ankle Monday after sitting three games last week with an injury to the same ankle, is questionable for the game.
Goran Dragic is doubtful with left knee soreness. The point guard banged his knee in Friday’s win over the Trail Blazers.
LaMarcus Aldridge, who has not played since March 6, will miss his eighth consecutive game with a right hip impingement. Nash said Sunday the big man would be out at least another week.
Entering Monday, Blake Griffin had played a total of 12 minutes, 1 second in the Nets’ previous eight games. The reserve big man has been attached to the bench since they traded for Andre Drummond and Nic Claxton emerged as the top mobile big-man option.
But without Drummond, who was out with a non-COVID illness, Griffin was excellent defensively for 20 minutes on Utah’s Rudy Gobert and Hassan Whiteside while adding nine points on 3 of 4 shooting.
Asked if it were a challenge to stay ready, Griffin said: “I don’t know if ‘challenge’ is how to describe it. I mean, we get paid to do this. It’s like in the summer, I work out, get shots up. Conditioning, trying to stay in shape as much as possible, be ready when my number’s called.”
Drummond, meanwhile, was not on the injury report.
[ad_2]