"Ja Morant, Grizzlies' standout point guard, cleared to play against Mavericks despite ankle injury"
The star point guard for Memphis, Ja Morant, was given the green light to participate in the Grizzlies' play-in game against the Dallas Mavericks on Friday, just 30 minutes before the game was set to begin.
Morant suffered a sprained right ankle during Tuesday's 121-116 loss to the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco.
According to reports, Morant underwent an MRI on Thursday and received multiple pain-relieving injections in the days leading up to the game.
\"I know he's doing everything he can to be ready to play,\" said Grizzlies interim coach Tuomas Iisalo before the game on Friday.
Prior to Morant being cleared, Mavericks coach Jason Kidd stated, \"We're expecting to see Ja. He's a competitor. He's a resilient individual... We have faith that he will play.\"
Morant sustained the injury when he landed on the foot of Golden State's Buddy Hield with 4:25 remaining in the third quarter.
Despite the injury, Morant returned to the game and ended up scoring 22 points.
The 25-year-old, two-time All-Star averaged 23.2 points, 7.3 assists, and 4.1 rebounds in 50 regular-season games this year.
The winner of Friday's game will secure the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference and will face the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the playoffs.
