Watch: Charles Barkley hilariously asks Kenny Smith to grab his knee to prove Jordan Poole and Ja Morant’s collision didn’t cause the latter a serious injury
Charles Barkley and the rest of the Inside The NBA crew believe Jordan Poole's collision with Ja Morant didn't have an impact on the latter leaving Game 3 between the Grizzlies and Warriors injured.
The play in question occurred with seven minutes left in the match when Poole appeared to grab Morant's right knee while trying to make a steal. Former NBA players Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal and Kenny Smith all agreed that Poole grabbing Morant's knee wouldn't have much of a significant impact on the injury.
To prove their point, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith hilariously tried to recreate the play, with the latter grabbing the former's knee and trying to pull it on Inside The NBA's studio. Here's a clip of that segment (via House Of Highlights):
Kenny Smith highlighted that Ja Morant potentially suffered a bigger impact before Jordan Poole grabbed his knee when the Memphis talisman appeared to have stretched out his leg while trying to keep possession of the ball.
Morant was also limping at the start of the third quarter when he attempted to block Klay Thompson's 3-point shot attempt. Here's a clip of the play:
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Will Memphis Grizzlies survive in Ja Morant's absence in the playoffs?
The Memphis Grizzlies displayed their tremendous depth during the regular season when they went 20-5 when Ja Morant was out of the lineup. Morant averaged 27.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game, so the numbers do suggest how important he is to Memphis' plans.
Nevertheless, the likes of Jaren Jackson Jr., Desmond Bane, Tyus Jones and Brandon Clarke, among others, stepped up their performances every time Morant was out, which helped the Grizzlies secure the second seed in the Western Conference.
The Memphis Grizzlies also thrived in their round one series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, despite Ja Morant not being able to produce the goods at an efficient rate. He scored 21.5 points on just 38.1% shooting from the field, including 18.1% from 3-point range.
However, that hasn't been the case so far against the Golden State Warriors. Morant is averaging 38.3 points and 8.3 assists per game across the first three matches. He has been shooting on 51/45/79 splits thus far and has been responsible for making this a tightly contested series.
The eye test suggests that the Grizzlies have struggled to do well at times when Morant has been off the floor against the Warriors. Their next best player in this series for Memphis has been Jaren Jackson Jr., who is averaging 20 points per game on 35% field goal shooting.
The numbers suggest that Ja Morant's absence may finally hamper the Memphis Grizzlies' chances of winning a game. The Golden State Warriors are one of the most experienced teams when it comes to playoff basketball in the NBA this season, so Memphis may struggle to push this series into a seven-game contest if Ja is sidelined.