The Memphis Grizzlies will look to improve upon their 1-0 start with their second of three straight home games to begin the 2025-26 season. Next on the schedule — a contest against the 0-1 Miami Heat, coming off a loss to the Orlando Magic. Both teams are battling injuries, and they’ll each be seeking a win to get their season moving in the right direction.
For the Heat, they’ll be without Tyler Herro, who’s still recovering from offseason foot surgery. As for the Grizzlies’ star guard counterpart in Ja Morant, fans received encouraging news as the two-time All-Star has been battling soreness in his left ankle.
Status Update:
Ja Morant and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope are active and available for @memgrizz tonight against @MiamiHEAT. https://t.co/WWyWkHoa3P
— Grizzlies PR (@GrizzliesPR) October 24, 2025
Entering the day with a QUESTIONABLE tag, Morant will be available and active for Memphis’ Friday night contest against the Heat. Morant suffered a left ankle injury that held him out for the entirety of Memphis’ preseason schedule, but he was able to return against the New Orleans Pelicans for the season opener.
The update is encouraging since it indicates Morant is trending away from potential setbacks due to returning from injury. Assuming everything stays normal for Morant on Friday night, he should be good to go for Memphis’ second leg of their back-to-back against the Indiana Pacers on Saturday.
Ja Morant 35 PTS, 3 REB, 3 AST, 1 STL, 13/20 FG, 74.4% TS vs Pelicans https://t.co/zEuF3mfRn2 pic.twitter.com/Gwa8nmvqi2
— Basketball Performances (@NBAPerformances) October 23, 2025
Given that Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo told the media ahead of the season opener that Morant wasn’t at 100% as he was recovering from a left ankle sprain, the expectations were tempered for the two-time All-Star in his season debut. While he had a solid 11 points at halftime against the Pelicans, he exploded for 24 points in the second half to help lead the Grizzlies to a comeback victory.
Scoring from all three levels, Morant reminded everyone just why he’s one of the best guards in the NBA when he’s on the court. That’s been his only problem — as Friday night will be just his 61st game since the start of the 2023-24 season.
JA MORANT.
ZERO FEARS. pic.twitter.com/ulEO9b3Lyt
— Molly Morrison (@mollyhannahm) October 23, 2025
With Desmond Bane now on the Orlando Magic, the pressure for Morant to return to his All-Star form is higher than ever. The Grizzlies did get strong performances from Jaylen Wells and Cedric Coward, but the ceiling of this Memphis team is low if Morant can’t be that go-to guy for them.
Morant will be tested on Friday night, going up against one of the better guard defenders in the NBA in Davion Mitchell. Tip-off in Memphis is set for 8:00 p.m. EST.
