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.

• NBA All-Star 2024: Vote here

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 intention of pairing him with Morant to bolster Memphis’ backcourt with both a high-scoring player (Morant) and a skilled defender (Smart). Unfortunately, a league-enforced suspension kept Morant out of the first 25 games of the season. Furthermore, he and Smart only managed to play six games together before Morant was sidelined for the rest of the season.

In terms of statistics, Smart is currently recording a career-high average of 14.5 points per game, alongside 2.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and a personal best of 2.1 steals per game. His absence significantly weakens the Memphis backcourt, which was already feeling the impact of Morant’s departure and has been missing the services of veteran player Derrick Rose, due to a hamstring issue, for the past three games.

The Grizzlies, with a 14-23 record, are third from the bottom in the Western Conference and trail the Houston Rockets by eight games for the tenth position in the West. Smart’s possible comeback might align with the Grizzlies’ return from the NBA All-Star break in late February, considering the six-week expected timeframe.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.