The Memphis Grizzlies are standing under the tough-luck cloud at the moment, having lost three straight games inside the final five seconds. And things got even darker on Tuesday as the team announced that Jaren Jackson Jr. has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 left ankle sprain with no clear timetable for his return.
The Grizzlies say Jackson, who was injured during the first quarter of the loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night, is considered “week-to-week” and that “further updates will be provided as appropriate.”
Jackson, who was just selected to his second All-Star team, is having an outstanding season. With Victor Wembanyama out for the season, Jackson Jr. is a top candidate for Defensive Player of the Year (provided he meets the NBA’s 65-game requirement to be eligible), and he has been doing work on the offensive end as well.
Jackson leads the Grizzlies in points (career-high 22.7), steals (1.3) and blocks (1.6) per game. He’s been Memphis’ best player as Ja Morant has had a relatively down season, and this is a bad time to be losing your best player with less than six weeks to play and the Grizzlies fighting to stay in the West’s top four seeds. Memphis, 38-23, trails the No. 3 seed Denver Nuggets by one game and leads the No. 5 seed Houston Rockets by one game.
A week ago things looked better before the Grizzlies lost those aforementioned threes games in the final seconds. First it was the New York Knicks’ OG Anunoby burying the game-winning 3-pointer with five seconds left. Then De’Aaron Fox hit a jumper with two seconds left to lift the San Antonio Spurs. Caris LeVert finished a Euro-step layup at the buzzer off a Dyson Daniels steal for the Hawks to conclude the trio of buzzer bummers for Memphis.
Let’s hope Jackson Jr. can get back in relatively short order, and that the Grizzlies can hold the fort down until then.
It’s safe to assume that Jackson Jr. will be out at least a week, meaning he’ll miss games vs. Oklahoma City, Dallas and New Orleans. Following that, the Grizzlies play Phoenix, Utah and Cleveland.
