Grizzlies lose Desmond Bane, Marcus Smart to injuries during Nets game
10/30/2024 11:07 PM
During the Memphis Grizzlies’ upset loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night, they suffered a pair of critical injuries on the perimeter. Guards Desmond Bane and Marcus Smart both left the game and did not return due to injuries, according to posts by the team on X, formerly Twitter.
First, Smart went down with a right ankle injury that caused him to leave the game. He was dribbling the ball up the floor before stepping on Nets wing Ziaire Williams’ foot and rolling his ankle.
Shortly after Smart went down, Desmond Bane went down with an oblique injury and also didn’t come back. The severity of the injury is unclear, so the Grizzlies will wait for more updates following the contest.
Smart will be missed for his defensive intensity first and foremost. While he may not be at 100% of what he was back in his prime, when he won a Defensive Player of the Year award with the Boston Celtics. Entering Wednesday night, Smart had started all four games but was playing just over 23 minutes per game. He is also a veteran facilitator who can run the offense when Ja Morant is off the floor and can make shots from the outside at times.
The Grizzlies will seriously miss Bane and his scoring punch on the offensive end. Through the first four games, Bane was leading the Grizzlies in scoring with 21 points per game in just 29 minutes a night, so he has been very efficient when out on the floor. His ability to score from all three levels perfectly complements Morant’s ability to get in the paint and create for his teammates. Bane had scored 10 points in 17 minutes before leaving the game against the Nets.
If Smart and Bane are forced to miss any time, it will be a major blow to a Grizzlies squad that fell to 2-3 with the loss on Wednesday. They’re still in a good spot as of now, but they will want to avoid falling too far behind in a very competitive Western Conference. Grizzlies fans will also have flashbacks to last season, when Memphis’ season was derailed by injuries up and down the roster, so they will be trying to avoid a similar fate this year.
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