Why is Ja Morant not playing against the Heat tonight? Grizzlies star's absence from game explored (Mar. 15)

Ja Morant has been ruled out of Saturday night's game versus the Miami Heat one hour before the scheduled tip-off at 8 PM EST. Morant had been listed as a game-time decision before the contest, as the Grizzlies are playing on the second night of a back-to-back.

Morant's official injury designation has been listed as a shoulder injury, and he will be on the bench, inactive for tonight's contest.

Underdog Sports first posted about Morant being out on X around 7 PM EST:

Will Guillory of The Athletic also reported on Morant's injury, posting to his X account that Morant was questionable pregame with shoulder soreness:

Given that the Grizzlies are playing the second night of a back-to-back and the injury is listed as soreness rather than an official diagnosis, they are likely playing it safe and don't want to see Ja Morant aggravate anything with the playoffs on the horizon.

The Memphis Grizzlies starters for tonight's contest will now be as follows:

• Luke Kennard
• Desmond Bane
• Jaylen Wells
• Jaren Jackson Jr
• Zach Edey

The Miami Heat will start:

• Tyler Herro
• Duncan Robinson
• Andrew Wiggins
• Bam Adebayo
• Kel'el Ware

The Grizzlies will also be without Vince Williams Jr, Santi Aldama, and Zyon Pullin. The Miami Heat will be without Nikola Jovic, Alec Burks, and Dru Smith.

Grizzlies fall to Cavaliers at home despite 44-point effort from Ja Morant

The Memphis Grizzlies and Cleveland Cavaliers found themselves in a dog fight on Friday night. The two teams faced off in Memphis in a high-scoring affair, where the Cavaliers were victorious over the Grizzlies by a score of 133-124. The victory was the Cavaliers' 16th straight win, an NBA season high for consecutive wins.

Grizzlies superstar Ja Morant did everything he could to will them to the win, but it, unfortunately, was not enough. Morant finished the game with 44 points, eight rebounds and seven assists while shooting 17/22 from the field. Cavaliers All-Star Evan Mobley added 22 points, 11 rebounds, and three assists.

The Cavaliers will play at home against the Orlando Magic on Sunday afternoon, looking to extend their winning streak to 17 games and keep their distance on the Oklahoma City Thunder for the best record in the NBA.