Ja Morant has served his eight-game suspension for what the NBA called "conduct detrimental to the league."
After a brief ramp-up period, the two-time All-Star is back with the Grizzlies.
Morant's return comes with only a few weeks remaining in the regular season. The Grizzlies managed to keep their heads above water in the games Morant missed. Now, they'll gear themselves up for a deep playoff run.
For more on Morant's return from suspension, let's take a closer look at how it impacts the Grizzlies.
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What Ja Morant's return from suspension means for Grizzlies
We only had seven names ahead of Morant's the last time we did our best players rankings.
Through 53 games this season, Morant is averaging 27.1 points to go along with 8.2 assists and 6.0 rebounds per game, both of which are the highest marks of his career. He earned his second All-Star selection and will be in the running to earn his second All-NBA selection.
To no surprise, the numbers point to the Grizzlies being a far superior team on offense with Morant on the court. While his jump shot remains a work in progress, he's one of the league's most dominant paint scorers. (His incredible athleticism isn't the only reason he scores around the basket like a 7-footer.) There also aren't many players who generate more offense for their teammates.
The Grizzlies are 34-19 when Morant plays compared to 10-8 when he doesn't this season. If they're going to make any noise in the playoffs, they'll need him to be healthy and firing on all cylinders. Being available for the final 11 games Memphis has this season should give him the time he needs to get his rhythm back.
Morant's return will move Tyus Jones back to the bench. Jones has established himself as one of the best backup point guards in the NBA, but he's been much more productive and efficient as a starter this season.
Ja Morant's playoff stats
This will be Morant's third trip to the playoffs through four seasons in his career.
The Jazz defeated the Grizzlies in five games in his first playoff appearance, but Morant put up big numbers: 30.2 points, 8.2 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game on 48.7 percent shooting from the field.
His 47-point performance in Game 2 was the most scored by a player aged 21 or younger.
Ja Morant went off for a @memgrizz #NBAPlayoffs franchise record 47 PTS in Game 2!
— NBA (@NBA) May 27, 2021
Game 3: Saturday at 9:30pm/et on ESPN pic.twitter.com/qmk1meXBBk
In 2022, Morant helped the Grizzlies make it to the second round, but he missed the last three games of the series with a knee injury. Memphis trailed Golden State 2-1 in the game Morant got injured. The Warriors went on to win in six games.
Morant averaged 27.1 points, 9.8 assists and 8.0 rebounds in nine games in the 2022 NBA Playoffs.
MORE: Ja Morant speaks publicly for first time since gun incident
Grizzlies remaining 2022-23 schedule
According to Tankathon, which bases its strength of schedule on the combined winning percentage of a team's remaining opponents, the Grizzlies have the second-easiest schedule left in the NBA.
While that doesn't account for where the games are played, the Grizzlies do have an easy road to the playoffs. Not only do they have more games at home (7) than away (5), but only three of their games are against teams that currently have a winning record.
One of those is against the Bucks in the second-last game of the season, by which point Milwaukee might be focused on the playoffs.
| Date | Opponent | Time (ET) | TV channel |
| March 20 | vs. Mavericks | 8:00 p.m. | NBA TV |
| March 22 | vs. Rockets | 8:00 p.m. | — |
| March 24 | vs. Rockets | 8:00 p.m. | — |
| March 26 | at Hawks | 6:00 p.m. | NBA TV |
| March 28 | vs. Magic | 8:00 p.m. | — |
| March 29 | vs. Clippers | 8:00 p.m. | — |
| March 31 | vs. Clippers | 8:00 p.m. | — |
| April 2 | at Bulls | 3:30 p.m. | — |
| April 4 | vs. Trail Blazers | 8:00 p.m. | — |
| April 5 | at Pelicans | 8:00 p.m. | — |
| April 7 | at Bucks | 8:00 p.m. | NBA TV |
| April 9 | at Thunder | 3:30 p.m. | — |
The Grizzlies are pretty much guaranteed a top-three seed at this point. They're currently one game ahead of the Kings for the second-best record in the Western Conference and six games separate them from the Suns in fourth.
Memphis finished with the No. 2 seed in 64.9 percent of Basketball Reference's simulations and the No. 3 seed in 29.0 percent of them.
It's still anyone's guess as to where the remaining teams in the Western Conference will land, but the Grizzlies are probably looking at a first-round matchup with one of the Clippers, Warriors, Mavericks, Timberwolves, Thunder, Jazz, Lakers or Pelicans.
