Is Ja Morant playing tonight? Injury report for Game 2 vs Lakers

Ja Morant suffered a hand injury charging to the hoop in Game 1 against the Lakers. Here’s his status leading up to Game 2.

Charging at the rim during Game 1 against the Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant hit the floor and hurt his fingers/hand. Morant left the floor in the fourth quarter and did not return. His and Giannis Antetokoumpo’s recent game-ending injuries which came after charge fouls had some fans rallying for the league to do something about the play. 

The Lakers wound up winning that game off impressive performances from Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura, and now the Grizzlies certainly hope to bounce back and even the series. That’ll be tough to do without their best player, though.

Morant scored 18 points, pulled in six rebounds, and dished out two assists on Sunday.

Here’s what we know so far on whether or not Morant will play on Wednesday night against the Lakers.

Is Ja Morant playing tonight vs Lakers? Injury status for Game 2

The Memphis Grizzlies plan to take the decision on playing in Game 2 right up until tip-off. While we don’t know for sure whether he’ll play or not, Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Tuesday night that the outlook is relatively bleak.

"“I do not sense a great deal of optimism around this Grizzlies team that Ja Morant will be ready to play in Game 2. But they’ve not ruled him out. They’re going to take it up ’til tomorrow. But I certainly think this is a team, an organization preparing for rhte very real possibility they’re going to have to try to even this series without Ja Morant in Game 2, get it 1-1, and then they don’t play again until Game 3 Saturday against the Lakers.”"

“From a competitive advantage standpoint, you don’t want your opponent to know,” Wojnarowski reminded viewers on ESPN. It sounds like the Grizzlies are expecting Morant to be out, and might be withholding the official information to keep the Lakers on their toes.

We’ll keep you updated here as we learn more about his official availability.