Veteran gunpoint safety Marcus Smart will escape triad to quintet weeks with a left foot up injury, which is uncollectible news for the struggling Memphis Grizzlies.
Smart exited a spunky against the Los Angeles Lakers in the number one half cobbler's last calendar week with a ft injury. X-rays were negative, but an MRI revealed a left hand invertebrate foot strain.
The Grizzlies were already short-handed with All-Star pointedness guard Ja Morant serving a 25-game suspension system for various incidents involving firearms and social media.
Smart, a former NBA Defensive Player of the Year, joined the Grizzlies inwards an offseason trade with the Bean Town Celtics. The Grizzlies were relying on a stager storey general ilk Smart to donjon the team up afloat until Morant returned.
The Grizzlies struggled without Morant and started the harden at 0-6. They currently have a 3-10 record.
The Grizzlies are fastened for utmost localize inwards the horse opera Conference with the San Antonio Spurs and Portland Trail Blazers. The Booker Taliaferro Washington Wizards (2-10) are the only if team inward the NBA with fewer wins than the Grizzlies.
Morant is eligible to take on December 19, but the Grizzlies hold to endure 12 more games without him. Smart could potentially follow come out until the death of December.
Grind City Add Veterans Smart and Rose
While the Grizzlies were experiencing their off-court drama with Morant, the organization brought in ii oldtimer tip guards to ply stability and leadership to the locker room. The Grizzlies acquired Smart inward a three-team trade with the Wizards that sent Kristaps Porzingis to the Celtics.
You e'er need to live where you’re wanted, and another team’s scrap is another team’s gold,” Smart told The Athletic the preseason. “So, I’m glad to live here. Glad to follow on an organisation that wants me and sees outstanding value.”
Head four-in-hand Taylor Jenkins wanted Smart to follow himself — a hard-nosed withstander and a brash, no-nonsense vet — spell the Grizzlies navigated the 1st 25 games without Morant.
Smart averaged 12.5 points,5.0 assists, and 2.0 steals per spunky in 11 games this season. He stab a career-best 42.9% from the floor, but struggled to link up from deep at 29.5% from 3-point range.
The Grizzlies signed Rose, a former MVP, in the offseason. He appeared in only if i gamy in November due to a sore knee, but he averaged 8.2 points and 2.4 assists per gamey inwards limited activeness turned the bench.
Smart existence sidelined with a invertebrate foot injury is a Brobdingnagian blow, especially with Rose dealing with his possess health issues. The Grizzlies also lost heart Steven Adams, single of the top offensive rebounders inward the NBA, for the entire season piece he recovers from articulatio genus surgery.
Next Isle of Man Up: Konchar and Gilyard
The Grizzlies parted shipway with spunky ex-serviceman Dillon Van Wyck Brooks inward the offseason. Jenkins has been shuffling his lineup to happen the right on backcourt combo to pair off with shooting guard Desmond Bane after Smart went down.
John Konchar, who is inwards his 5th time of year with the Grizzlies, started inwards the utmost deuce games. Konchar averages 3.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per gamey spell shooting 40% from 3-point range. Konchar started 23 games in conclusion season when Bane sustained a toe injury.
Second-year safety device Francois Jacob Gilyard, who was undrafted come out of Richmond, started quaternity games this flavour for the Grizzlies. Gilyard averaged 4.4 points and 3.3 assists this season piece knocking cut down 48.3% of his 3-pointers.
Vince Williams, a 2022 second-round draft copy pick come out of VCU, logged 17 proceedings away the bench against the Celtics on Sunday. Sir Bernard Williams averaged 3.6 points per biz this season.
Betting the Morant-Less Grizzlies
The Grizzlies secured the #2 seed in the Western Conference inward each of the previous II seasons. Despite their recent prominence inwards the steady season, the Grizzlies failed to progress to the group discussion finals. The Lakers, with the #7 seed, knocked out the Grizzlies inwards the first off unit of ammunition of the playoffs last-place season.
In the endure ternary postseasons, the Grizzlies won just quintuplet games. They were a first-round bust out inward the 2021 NBA Playoffs as a #8 seed, and they were eliminated inwards the endorsement round past the Golden State Warriors in the 2022 NBA Playoffs.
The Grizzlies are seeking a third-straight Southwest Division title. They entered the fixture time of year as a slight divisional favorite a +140 odds, and onward of the Dallas Mavericks (+200), New siege of Orleans Pelicans (+220), Houston Rockets (+4000), and Spurs (+6500).
The Mavs lodge in firstly place inwards the partition with a 9-5 track record and are the consensus favorite to win the southwestern United States at -215 odds, followed by the Pelicans (6-7) at +500, Rockets (6-5) at +800, and Grizzlies at +1600. The Rockets surprised a lot of teams with a 6-3 start, but make since dropped 2 games in a row.
During the preseason, the Grizzlies were +3000 odds to win the 2023-24 NBA Championship. After their slow start, the Grizzlies saw their claim betting odds slip of paper to +12000. They’re now +5500 odds to win the horse opera Conference.
The Grizzlies experience a 5-8 enter against the head spread, and are tied for the sixth-worst ATS track record in the NBA after the first-class honours degree 13 games of the season. They drama the Rockets inward Sam Houston on Wednesday before reverting place to Memphis for a three-game homestand against the capital of Arizona Suns, Gopher State Timberwolves, and the Utah Jazz.
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