Ja Morant says he played last four Memphis Grizzlies games with a broken thumb
Sunday 16 August 2020 08:45, UK
Following a 35-point performance in a season-ending loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday, Memphis Grizzlies rookie point guard Ja Morant revealed he played the final four games with a broken right thumb.
"Since the Raptors game (on August 9), I was out there playing with a fractured thumb," Morant told reporters after the loss, which gave the eighth-seeded Blazers the Western Conference's final playoff spot and sent the ninth-seeded Grizzlies home for the season.
Morant, who turned 21 last week, has been playing with a brace on his right thumb, but he has still been productive.
He averaged 18.3 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds per game over the final three seeding games, then set a career high with his 35 points on Saturday. He also had eight assists and four rebounds against Portland, although he also set a career high with eight turnovers.
The favourite to win Rookie of the Year, Morant finished the regular season averaging 17.8 points, 7.3 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game.
The Grizzlies, who held a three-and-a-half -game lead over the Blazers entering the season restart, finished 2-7 in the NBA bubble near Orlando, with injuries a significant factor.
Beyond Morant's thumb, Memphis lost second-year big man Jaren Jackson Jr to a torn meniscus in his knee after just three games in the bubble. Justise Winslow never made his debut after being acquired from Miami, sustaining a hip injury in practice in July that ended his season.
"I am proud of everybody: our whole staff, our players," Morant said. "I mean, we played through a lot of adversities. We faced injuries early in the season - starting with me and then Brandon (Clarke) and then Jaren. Coming here, we still faced some injuries to some key guys on the team. But we never gave up. I'm proud of our fight."
The Grizzlies finished 34-39 for the regular season prior to the play-in setback.
