Grizzlies' Marcus Smart (finger) out at least next 6 weeks

This season, Marcus Smart is recording a career-high average of 14.5 points per game for Memphis.

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The Memphis Grizzlies announced Thursday that guard Marcus Smart will miss the next six weeks with a right ring finger injury. Per the team, Smart’s injury is a rupture of the proximal interphalangeal joint central slip and he will be re-evaluated in six weeks.

Smart’s injury occurred in a 120-109 win against the Dallas Mavericks on Jan. 9.

What happened: Smart left that game with 7:38 left in the third quarter with a dislocated finger. After making a 3-pointer, Smart noticed that his finger was gruesomely out of place while extending his hand to celebrate.

That game was Memphis’ first since learning it would be without leading scorer and All-Star Ja Morant for the rest of the season (shoulder surgery).

Smart’s impact: Before his injury, Smart scored 23 points on 9-for-16 shooting as the Grizzlies beat the Mavs, who had won three straight and four of their last five.

In the offseason, the Grizzlies acquired Smart with the hope that he would form a formidable duo with Morant, providing Memphis’ backcourt with both a high-scoring player (Morant) and a top-notch defender (Smart). Unfortunately, Morant was sidelined for the first 25 games of the season due to a league-imposed suspension. He and Smart only managed to play six games together before Morant’s season was abruptly ended.

In terms of statistics, Smart is recording a career-high average of 14.5 points per game, along with 2.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and a personal best of 2.1 steals per game. His absence further weakens a Memphis backcourt already suffering from Morant’s departure and missing veteran Derrick Rose due to a hamstring injury for the past three games.

The Grizzlies, with a 14-23 record, rank third from the bottom in the Western Conference and trail the Houston Rockets by eight games for the tenth position. Smart’s possible comeback could align with the Grizzlies’ return from the NBA All-Star break in late February, a period of six weeks.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.