The Memphis Grizzlies suffered a massive blow to their playoff hopes yesterday as we learned that star player Ja Morant will undergo season ending shoulder injury. The injury occurred over the weekend during one of the Grizzlies practices and although Memphis was able to beat the Phoenix Suns on the road without Morant, his absence on the team will be felt in the coming days and weeks. Without him in the line-up they’re just 7-20 SU this season, catching the 10th seeded Lakers who are 5.5 games ahead will be a miracle. There’s no point in dwelling over it, Memphis has to focus on tonight’s opponent the Mavs. Just last night we saw the Indiana Pacers beat the Boston Celtics with their best player coming out of the game with an injury, perhaps the Grizzlies can draw some inspiration from that?
Dallas is off to a solid start to 2024 with 3 wins in 4 outings, but more importantly their two best players Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic are both healthy and playing at a high level. They’re coming off one of their biggest wins of the season, on Sunday they beat the West leading Minnesota Timberwolves 115-108. The aforementioned duo combined to score 69 points and dished out 13 assists in the win, while also going 11-for-20 from deep. A similar performance tonight would almost certainly get the job done, but the Mavs have to stay cautious here as they still have 4 players on the injury report which could impact their depth. Dallas does hold a 2-1 lead in head-to-head meetings this season, but interestingly enough both of their wins came on the road.
