Victim of a sprained knee during Memphis’s loss to the Lakers on Friday, Jaren Jackson Jr. was released prematurely in the second quarter and never returned. He will be reassessed in two weeks for his availability.
The number 4 of the 2018 Draft will not play again for at least two weeks. It’s a hell of a blow for the Grizzlies who plan to sell their skin dearly to go to the Playoffs. The fight promises to be epic. For now, the Memphis team is eighth with a balance sheet (28-28). But the return of the All-Star Break didn’t go as planned at all. First because of a loss to the Kings (it’s never a good sign) and then this loss in Los Angeles. This is more understandable, especially with JJJ’s injury. The problem is above all the rest. The Grizzes have an extremely difficult schedule to finish the season. Let’s take stock of the schedule for the next two weeks without Jaren Jackson’s son. They stay at Staples Center until the next game to face the Clippers. Then travel to Houston, reception of the Kings and reception of the Lakers in back-to-back. Then, game in Atlanta, Brooklyn, Dallas and against the Hawks the next day. Suffice to say that all this will be complicated. Eight games (pending re-evaluation of the injury) in this period. The goal is to take at least half and more if possible. Suddenly, the games against Atlanta, Brooklyn and the Kings will be must-wins for the players of Taylor Jenkins otherwise it looks complicated.
In addition, the pressure is more and more felt behind. If Sacramento (twelfth) seems too far to go to worry them, three teams want to go and grab this coveted eighth place. Especially since if it could be considered at one time, going to look for OKC in front is almost impossible mission now. Four candidates for a place. Happy Hunger Games. These three teams are therefore the Spurs, the Pelicans and the Blazers. We have learned never to bury Gregg Popovich’s troops, but this seems the least likely team to return to the battle and thus complete the incredible streak of consecutive years in the Playoffs. For the other two rivals, be careful. The Blazers lost Lillard for a few more days and are therefore weakened, especially since the rest of the season was not excellent, without the arsonist it becomes difficult. But still, if it stays without Lady and he comes back as he played in January with 40, 50 or 60 points, they can be serious. Finally, birds with long beaks seem to be the best armed. They are having a really good 2020 and Zion Williamson’s excellent debut bodes well for things. They garnered victories and positioned themselves as serious candidates to go to the Playoffs, at the expense of the Grizzlies. Come on, we end up on the schedule for the rest of the season for Memphis. After the confrontations set out above, Memphis only has games against Playoffable teams except six games. One against the Knicks, well that’s a compulsory victory. But the other five games are much more important. Twice Portland, once San Antonio, once New Orleans. These are meetings that will count twice in this race for eighth place. It will be necessary to win the most matches alongside these but especially not to let go of the direct confrontations.
Until then, we wish Jaren Jackson Jr. a speedy recovery from his injury and hope to see him back on the court soon. We will meet for the next Grizzlies games with an eye on March 21 and 24 for the double-confrontation that is already promising to be exciting against the Pelicans.
Text source: ESPN
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