Grizzlies' Marcus Smart (finger) out at least next 6 weeks
This season for Memphis, Marcus Smart is averaging a career-high of 14.5 points per game.
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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 made a trade for Smart with the expectation that he and Morant could complement each other, providing Memphis’ backcourt with both a premier scorer (Morant) and an exceptional defender (Smart). Unfortunately, a league-imposed suspension caused Morant to miss the first 25 matches of the season. He and Smart only managed to play six games together before Morant was sidelined for the rest of the season.
Smart is currently posting career-high averages of 14.5 points and 2.1 steals per game, along with contributions of 2.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists. His absence exacerbates the issues in the Memphis backcourt, which was already struggling after Morant’s departure and has been missing the experienced Derrick Rose (due to a hamstring injury) for the past three games.
The Grizzlies, currently with a 14-23 record, are ranked third from the bottom in the Western Conference. They trail the Houston Rockets by eight games for the 10th position in the West. Smart’s possible comeback might align with the Grizzlies’ return from the NBA All-Star break towards end of February, considering the six-week timeline.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
