Memphis star point guard Ja Morant was cleared to play in the Grizzlies’ Friday play-in game against the Dallas Mavericks about 30 minutes before the scheduled tipoff.
Morant sprained his right ankle on Tuesday in Memphis’ 121-116 road loss against the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco.
Morant reportedly underwent an MRI exam on Thursday and received multiple pain-killing injections in recent days.
“I know he’s doing everything possible to be able to play,” Grizzlies interim coach Tuomas Iisalo said prior to the Friday game.
Before Morant was cleared, Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said, “We’re prepared to see Ja. He’s a gamer. He’s a tough individual. … We believe that he’s going to go.”
Morant was hurt when he landed on the foot of Golden State’s Buddy Hield with 4:25 left in the third quarter.
Morant, 25, later returned to the game and wound up scoring 22 points.
A two-time All-Star, Morant averaged 23.2 points, 7.3 assists and 4.1 rebounds in 50 regular-season games this season.
The winner of the Friday contest will be the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference and will face the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the playoffs.
–Field Level Media
