The Memphis Grizzlies once again will be in search of a playmaker when they play host to the Denver Nuggets on Sunday.
Grizzlies star Ja Morant has been limited by a variety of injuries and has played in only 20 of the team’s 43 games. Backups Ty Jerome and Scotty Pippen Jr. haven’t played this season because of injuries. Jerome suffered a severe calf strain in the preseason. Pippen is recovering from offseason toe surgery.
“We have a relatively young team,” said Memphis coach Tuomas Iisalo. “We have missed a lot of our primary creators.”
Without veteran guards, the turnovers are mounting as the season progresses. Iisalo pointed to 19 turnovers following the team’s 133-127 loss Friday to the New Orleans Pelicans.
“Unnecessary, several of them. It is very difficult to win when the other team dominates the possession game,” Iisalo said of the turnovers. “We know that we are short-handed, especially at the big spots, and we’ve gotta come up with the rebounds and be a little more disruptive. But it really hurts when we’re throwing the ball away because those possessions accumulate for the other team.”
In addition to the unavailability of its point guards, Memphis has played all but 11 games without injured big man Zach Edey.
Morant has appeared in only nine of the team’s past 31 games, while a right calf strain and a left elbow strain are the latest issues to sideline him. He missed six straight games earlier this month because of the calf injury, and the elbow issue kept him out of Friday’s home loss to the struggling Pelicans.
The Grizzlies announced Saturday that Morant will be out for at least three more weeks with a UCL sprain to his elbow.
Jerome might make his Memphis debut soon.
“He’s already progressed to five-on-five live, so we’re very close,” Iisalo said. “Somewhere within one or two weeks.”
Key reserve — and part-time starter — Santi Aldama has missed the past two games with right knee soreness.
“We approach every game the same way, we do everything we can in order to win with the roster we have,” Iisalo said. “Right now, it’s again changing, without Santi and Ja, so it’s quite a juggle to make sure we have enough rebounding, enough interior defense. We’re putting out, again, lineups that have never practiced together or played together, so it’s a challenge.”
While Memphis has lost nine of its last 12 games, Denver has won six of eight despite the absence of three-time league MVP Nikola Jokic, who hasn’t played since Dec. 29 because of a bone bruise in his left knee.
In Friday’s 102-100 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, the Nuggets managed to win with starters Jokic, Jamal Murray and Peyton Watson all sidelined by injury. Starting forward Aaron Gordon sat out in the second half after aggravating a hamstring injury.
Big man Jonas Valanciunas, filling in for Jokic, also missed the game. Six rotation players were out.
“It was all-hands-on-deck, especially after AG went down at the half,” said Julian Strawther, who scored 20 points against the Bucks. “But everybody on this team can go. We have a belief in each other.”
Denver coach David Adelman was encouraged by how his team competed.
“I think the guys really responded to Aaron going down again,” he said. “It was a gritty win. I’m really proud of them. In the last month, we’ve been a very, very strong-willed group of guys.”
