Marcus Smart to Miss At Least Six Weeks with Finger Injury

It is as if we are all in the making of a movie entitled “Worst Grizzmare Ever”.

And the issue is, we are only halfway through (LOL, but with tears….)

This week has already been the most Grizz news filled week of year:

• Ja Morant announced out for the season on Monday
• Grizz continue best stretch of season play on Tuesday
• Vince Williams Multi-Year Contract Wednesday
• And Now, Marcus Smart Injury News on Thursday

(NBA Gods, please feel free to take Friday off!)

It truly is laughable at this point, because this season was clearly doomed from the start. After missing nearly five weeks of action from right before Thanksgiving to after Christmas, Smart had returned to action and had finally started to show why the Grizzlies highly valued his addition to the team in acquiring him over the summer. Not only was the trio of Jaren Jackson Jr., Vince Williams Jr., and Smart starting to make an elite defensive impact, Smart was also literally just enjoying one the best offensive stretches of his career.

On the three game road trip that we at once thought was the positive turning point of the corner for the Grizzlies season over this past weekend and Tuesday, Smart made personal history multiple times.

The first time he ever scored 25+ points in two straight games.

First time he scored 20+ points in three straight games.

Threes and offensive confidence galore.

But unfortunately in the third quarter on Tuesday, after another made three, Smart appeared to dislocate a finger on his right hand and now is out for at least six weeks. While it certainly is the right decision to make sure that Smart ensures he is fully healthy moving forward, this is another huge blow for a Grizzlies roster that still seemed confident to make a push for the playoffs.

Across 20 games this season, Smart was averaging 14.5 points, 4.3 assists, 2.7 rebounds, and 2.1 steals per game this season. He had both good and bad stretches of play, but since returning from his foot injury, had shown multiple times both offensively and defensively how he could impact winning games. Now unfortunately, it seems that it will be March at the earliest before Smart returns to play. The hope is that his absence can help him return to full health while minimizing the chance another random injury interrupts his season.

As for the Grizzles, another spell of multiple injures could lead to a hardship exception in the near future:

The Grizzlies will likely make more moves in the near future to ensure they have needed depth moving forward. And while the hope is that wins will continue to occur, at this point, good health seems to be the number one priority for the rest of the season.