Marc Gasol re-aggravated an abdominal tear he initially suffered back on March 6, and is out indefinitely with the injury, the team announced on Saturday.
Gasol has played every game since then, so the injury wasn’t serious enough at the time to keep him out of action. It has now forced him out of at least one game, as Gasol was sidelined for the Grizzlies’ home contest against the Celtics on Saturday.
The Grizzlies lost to the Hornets on Friday, in a game where Gasol logged 38 minutes and scored 16 points on 7-13 shooting, to go along with six rebounds, four assists, and four steals.
Memphis currently sits in fifth place in the Western Conference standings, a half game behind the Clippers in fourth, and a game back of the Nuggets in third. There’s little concern of dropping to sixth given the eight-game cushion between the two spots, but if Gasol is out for an extended length of time, the Grizzlies can plan on an extremely tough first round playoff matchup which will begin on the road in either Denver or Los Angeles.
Gasol has been his team’s best overall player when taking into account both offensive and defensive contributions, and has averaged 14.3 points and 7.8 rebounds in 35 minutes per game this season.
