It certainly hasn’t taken long for Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies to become one of the NBA’s most talked about rookies. Morant recently missed four contests due to a back injury and it appears that the Grizzlies want to ease the promising neophyte back into the lineup.
Morant returned to action for the club’s Dec. 9 contest against the Golden State Warriors and also played in their Dec. 11 competition versus the Phoenix Suns — both wins.
The team strategically sat Morant down for “injury maintenance” in their Friday night loss against the Milwaukee Bucks, but Morant, it seems, was only being eased back into the lineup and was being protected from the enviable predicament of having to play three games in four nights and four games in six.
As a result, he’s set to return to the lineup after a one-game absence when the Grizzlies seek to secure a victory over the Washington Wizards on Saturday. If successful, Memphis will have won three games in four tries for just the second time this season.
While the Grizzlies enter the contest with a 7-18 record on the season, they’re just 1-4 in the contests that Morant has missed this season. The 20-year-old has emerged as one of the favorites for Rookie of the Year on per-game averages of 18.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 1.3 assists.