The mystery of whether Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant will play Saturday night might not be resolved until close to tipoff for the second straight game.
Morant’s injured right hand is improving but the Grizzlies again see him as a game-time decision and are listing him as questionable for Game 3 of the Western Conference first-round series against the host Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday.
Morant participated in a non-contact practice on Friday, and that development shows improvement after he was ruled out of Wednesday’s Game 2 less than an hour before tip-off.
The Grizzlies plan to have Morant work out on Saturday before making the call.
Second-seeded Memphis evened the testy series at one game apiece without Morant, prevailing 103-93 at home on Wednesday.
Lakers guard Austin Reaves sees that result and said the Grizzlies have to be respected even if Morant doesn’t play.
Meanwhile, tension between Memphis’ Dillon Brooks and the Lakers’ LeBron James figures to grow thicker after the Grizzlies’ antagonist termed the NBA’s all-time leading scorer as “old” after Game 2.
Brooks is 11 years younger than the 38-year-old James. While he admits James is a legend, Brooks insisted the 19-time All-Star’s level of play has dropped.
James, a four-time league MVP, certainly was irritated by the lack of respect coming from Brooks.
He cut off his media session after five minutes Friday when all the questions were Brooks-related.
James made it clear that how well people play — as opposed to how much they talk — decides the winner of basketball games.
James scored 28 points in Game 2 for the seventh-seeded Lakers and is averaging 24.5 points in the series.
James could use some help from Anthony Davis, who struggled throughout Game 2 while recording 13 points on 4-of-14 shooting.
Davis did block five shots — all in the first half — but he was outplayed in the interior by Memphis’ Xavier Tillman, who scored a career-high 22 points on 10-of-13 shooting while collecting a season-high 13 rebounds.
The breakthrough effort came after Tillman had just two points in 22 minutes in Game 1.
