For a team that needs everything to go right to make the playoffs in the deep West, this is a significant setback.
Grizzlies starting forward JaMychal Green will be out at least a month, likely more, with a broken jaw suffered against the Hawks on Friday night, the team announced.
UPDATE: JaMychal Green suffered a broken jaw after receiving an elbow to the face from an opposing player during the third quarter of yesterday’s game against the Hawks. Green underwent a surgical stabilization procedure this morning and is expected to make a full recovery.
— Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) October 20, 2018
Per source, the Grizzlies are hopeful JaMychal Green will be able to resume basketball activities in about four weeks.
— Chris Herrington (@ChrisHerrington) October 20, 2018
“Resume basketball activities” means start to practice, which would make his return more like six weeks. For some comparison, when Nikola Mirotic has his jaw broken last season (in very different circumstances, thanks again Bobby Portis) it took about seven weeks for him to return to the court.
For Green and Grizzlies fans, this is the worst kind of deja vu — last season Green sprained his ankle four minutes into the team’s home opener and missed the next dozen games.
Green is a solid three for the Grizzlies, averaging 7.5 points and 6 rebounds through two games this season (which is right in line with his numbers this season).
This likely means rookie Jaren Jackson Jr. — who has impressed coming off the bench in two games, as he did at Summer League — moves into the starting lineup. That should be interesting for the Grizzlies.
