Ja Morant Returns For Game 3

Grizzlies guard Ja Morant will be active for tonight’s Game 3 against the Lakers, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. He will be in Memphis’ starting lineup, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link).

Morant wound up missing just one game with the right hand injury he suffered in the fourth quarter of the series opener last Sunday. The Grizzlies won without Morant on Wednesday night to knot the series at 1-1 heading to Los Angeles.

Team officials were encouraged during Saturday morning’s shootaround as Morant was making shots with his right hand, according to Damichael Cole of The Commercial Appeal. He wore black tape on the hand as he attempted spot-up three-point jumpers, Cole adds, noting that reporters had only seen Morant dribbling and shooting with his left hand throughout the week.

“He looked good,” Luke Kennard told Cole. “We had a great couple days here so far, and he looked good so far. He was able to shoot the ball some, so we’ll see how it goes.”

There was hope that Morant would be available for Wednesday’s Game 2, but he wasn’t able to pass grip and dribbling tests, so he was ruled out shortly before game time.

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