After there was some optimism that Ja Morant might be able to suit up for the Grizzlies’ crucial Game 4 on Monday night, that hope has fallen off a cliff as the Grizzlies superstar is now expected to be out for the rest of this postseason.

Ja Morant has a bone bruise in his knee and is expected to miss the rest of the playoffs, the Grizzlies announce. https://t.co/U4q0HXViue

— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) May 10, 2022

Morant suffered a right knee injury in the final frame of Game 3 when he got tangled up with Jordan Poole. It appeared that Poole grabbed at Morant’s knee on the play but whether or not that caused the injury is debatable.

Ja averaged 38.3 points, 8.3 assists, and 3.0 steals per game in the series, and his absence creates a huge void with Memphis down 3-1 in the set. If the postseason book is closed on the 2019 second overall pick, his final 2022 line is beyond impressive. In nine games, Morant led the Grizz in both points (27.1) and assists (9.8) per game while coming up with some gravity-defying hilite reel moments.

Tyrus Jones will be asked to pick up a whole lot of slack in his teammate’s absence.

FanDuel Sportsbook has Memphis as +4.5 home dogs and +148 on the moneyline on Wednesday night. Their odds are even longer to complete the series comeback sitting at +1500 to win the set.