Trail Blazers Announce Encouraging Ja Morant Injury Update Before Spurs Game

Head coach Micah Nori of the Portland Trail Blazers. Getty

The surprising Portland Trail Blazers take their 6-2 record into the Moda Center Saturday when they host the defending Western Conference champions, Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs.

But they’ll be doing it without a newly acquired superstar who is out with a hamstring injury.

Before the Spurs game, Blazers coach Micah Nori announced some encouraging news about the team’s ailing star, Ja Morant.

Morant’s hamstring injury “might not be as extensive as what we thought it was,” Nori said before the game Saturday.

The comment complicates a return timeline that had the guard sidelined until late November, and it leaves open how many games Portland will actually play without him.

Morant suffered the injury Oct. 29 against the Memphis Grizzlies, his first meeting with the team that drafted him, and where he played for the first seven years of his often controversial career. He exited with 7:46 left to play after posting 14 points and three assists in 23 minutes, and Portland went on to lose 124-103.

“I’m hoping that it’s nothing major, obviously,” Nori said after the loss to Memphis, as quoted by ESPN.

The Trail Blazers announced the next day that scans identified a Grade 2 strain in his left hamstring, with a re-evaluation set for four weeks. That puts him on track to miss at least the next 15 games.

Portland Trail Blazers’ Ja Morant Return Timeline

Head coach Micah Nori of the Portland Trail Blazers looks on

Morant “may not be out for as long as we thought,” Nori said Saturday, as quoted by NBC Sports. The coach said a doctor in Los Angeles evaluated Morant and gave a positive outlook on the injury. Nori did not offer a revised return date, and the team has not released findings from the Los Angeles exam.

Grade 2 strains involve torn muscle fibers. Dr. Alec Denes, an orthopedic surgeon, told KATU that the damage does not appear to involve a tendon pulling away from the bone, and that recovery hinges on Morant’s response to rehab rather than a fixed schedule. Denes put the typical window for a Grade 2 strain at four to six weeks.

A native of Dalzell, South Carolina, Morant led the nation with 10.0 assists per game as a Murray State sophomore. No one before him had averaged 20 points and 10 assists in a season since the NCAA began counting assists officially in 1983-84.

The Grizzlies drafted him second overall in 2019. Morant won Rookie of the Year in 2020, took Most Improved Player honors in 2022 and made two All-Star teams. Over seven seasons he has averaged 22.4 points and 7.4 assists per game.

Injuries and suspensions for off-court behavior followed, and Memphis shopped him before last season’s deadline without drawing much interest. Portland acquired Morant on June 29 in exchange for forwards Jerami Grant and Kris Murray. Morant told team officials he was “excited to be in Portland,” according to a report by ESPN‘s Shams Charania.

Portland Trail Blazers Face Life Without Ja Morant

Through four games, Morant averaged 15.8 points and 5.5 assists, topped by 23 points in a 136-129 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Oct. 27. In that game, Damian Lillard, Deni Avdija and Jrue Holiday also topped 20 points. Morant had debuted Oct. 21 with 14 points and eight assists in a 124-83 rout of the Phoenix Suns.

Portland won its first three games with Morant in the lineup and now sits at 6-2, fifth in the Western Conference, heading into Saturday night’s game against San Antonio.

Nori will likely lean more on guards Holiday and Scoot Henderson, according to ESPN. The Trail Blazers are also without Shaedon Sharpe and Vit Krejci, who are out with a meniscus injury and an ankle fracture, respectively.

The re-evaluation remains scheduled for late November, and Nori has not said whether the Los Angeles opinion changes that date.

Portland Trail Blazers’ Ja Morant Return Timeline

Portland Trail Blazers Face Life Without Ja Morant

Related Posts