7:00 PM ET
Tim BontempsESPN
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla.– The Memphis Grizzlies, having currently lost their first three games inside the NBAs bubble at the Walt Disney World Resort, were dealt a significant blow to their playoff hopes Tuesday when appealing young forward Jaren Jackson Jr. was dismissed for the remainder of the season after suffering a meniscus tear in his left knee.
The Grizzlies revealed Tuesday night that Jackson “experienced an unsteady landing after reaching an opposing player with contesting a shot” throughout Memphis loss on Monday to the New Orleans Pelicans, with further assessment revealing the meniscus tear.
The group said Jackson is anticipated to make a complete recovery.
Jackson, 20, had actually been outstanding in the very first three video games for Memphis, averaging 25.3 points per game– including 33 on Friday night against the Portland Trail Blazers– and averaged 17.4 points while shooting almost 40% from 3-point range this season. He and presumptive Rookie of the Year Ja Morant have currently formed one of the most explosive one-two combinations among young gamers in the NBA and helped power Memphis into the Western Conferences eighth playoff seed heading into the NBAs restart.
However after 3 tough, close losses to open play– Friday in overtime to the Blazers, Sunday to the San Antonio Spurs and Monday to the Pelicans– Memphis is now just 2 games ahead of the Blazers and Spurs for eighth in the West, and with all five video games remaining (vs. Utah, Oklahoma City, Toronto, Boston and Milwaukee) coming against proven playoff groups.
The 8th- and ninth-place teams in the West will play versus one another in a play-in competition later this month at the conclusion of the eight seeding video games– assuming there are four games or less in between the two teams, something that is all however guaranteed to occur now. The eighth-place team will have to win one of 2 games to advance to the face the Los Angeles Lakers in the very first round of the playoffs, while the ninth-place group would need to win two times.
