The Memphis Grizzlies will be without star point guard Ja Morant for the second straight game when they try to stave off elimination Wednesday night against the visiting Golden State Warriors.

Morant was diagnosed with a bone bruise in his right knee on Tuesday and the club indicated the face of their franchise is doubtful to return this postseason.

The 22-year-old Morant injured his right knee in Game 3 and sat out Monday’s Game 4, won 101-98 by the host Warriors.

Golden State holds a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinals and benefited by Morant’s absence while overcoming a 12-point, fourth-quarter deficit.

Morant typically seizes control in fourth quarters and the Grizzlies felt the void while seeing their bid to tie the series slip away.

“It’s a tough one. It’s a tough pill to swallow,” said Tyus Jones, who had 19 points while starting in place of Morant. “It felt like we were leading the whole game.

“It felt like we were in a good position. It felt like we put ourselves in a good position to win a ballgame and things didn’t go our way down the stretch.”

The Warriors were without coach Steve Kerr on Wednesday due to a positive COVID-19 test. It isn’t yet known if Kerr will coach Game 5 though the expectation is that he won’t travel to Memphis.

Associate head coach Mike Brown — hired to coach the Sacramento Kings earlier Monday — guided the team and is now 12-0 in the postseason while filling in for Kerr.

Still, Golden State wasn’t in good shape when it was trailing by double digits. But the Warriors outscored Memphis by 15 points over the final 10:12 after sputtering offensively to that point.

Golden State star Stephen Curry struggled for the first 40 minutes before scoring 18 of his game-high 32 over the final 7:55 as his team moved within one win of reaching the Western Conference finals.

“We got a little rushed over the first six minutes and it set the tone for some ugly offense,” Curry said. “The open shots didn’t really feel like they were in rhythm. Credit to our defense, that’s what kept us in it.”

The Warriors finally pulled ahead at 94-93 when Curry made two free throws with 45.7 seconds left. He made six more down the stretch as Golden State held on.

“Nothing we figured out, it was just don’t let the first three quarters influence the fact that we still had a chance to win the game,” Curry said. “Shoot the shots you think you can make, play aggressive, take care of the ball. We did all of those things.”

Brown saw a team that kept its cool and didn’t panic.

“A lot of it has to do with the playoff experience that these guys have but their talent and IQ in my opinion is second to none,” Brown said.

Curry also made four 3-pointers to raise his postseason career total to 503. He is the first NBA player to make at least 500 in the playoffs.

Meanwhile, the Grizzlies will be back in front of their exuberant fans with their season on the line.

“You recognize the good things you did and just focus on the season isn’t over yet,” Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins said. “It’s 3-1. I told them to forget what the record is in the series. You’ve just got to focus on just winning a game. Just go focus on winning one game right now.”

–Field Level Media

The Western Conference semifinal series between the Phoenix Suns and the Dallas Mavericks has followed a pattern.

The home team has won every game and the series is tied 2-2 going into Game 5 on Tuesday night in Phoenix.

The Suns have held steady as 5.5-point favorites ahead of Game 5 by BetMGM, where they had been backed by an overwhelming 91 percent of the spread bets and 95 percent of the handle as of Tuesday morning. The action had been similar at DraftKings with Phoenix backed by 63 and 96 percent, respectively, as a 6.0-point favorite.

Suns guard Chris Paul was outstanding in his team’s two wins, and unusually ineffective in the Mavericks’ two wins.

Paul averaged 23.5 points and 3.5 turnovers in Games 1 and 2, but his seven first-half turnovers in Game 3 and foul trouble in Game 4 helped a resurgent Dallas team knot the series 2-all.

“If you don’t have CP out there,” said Luka Doncic, who led the Mavericks with 26 points in their 111-101 victory Sunday. “It’s for sure tougher on (his) team.”

Paul’s struggles made things harder for the Suns, but they didn’t hand anything to Dallas, which played much better at home than it did on the road. The Mavericks, who gave up an average of 125 points in Phoenix, held the Suns to less than 50 percent shooting in each of the last two games after they had shot 50 percent or better in their first eight playoff games.

“Our defense won us these two games,” Doncic said.

Dallas’ 3-point shooting was a major factor in Game 4. The Mavericks made 20 of 44 from beyond the arc. Dorian Finney-Smith led the way by scoring a playoff career-high 24 points on a career-best 8 of 12 on 3-point attempts.

Finney-Smith, Maxi Kleber (24 3-pointers in the playoffs) and Reggie Bullock (29 playoff 3s) have been testing the perimeter defense of the Suns.

Paul went to the bench after committing his third foul with 1:52 left in the second quarter, but coach Monty Williams put him back in the game with 45 seconds left.

The move backfired when Paul committed a fourth foul with one second left in the half, colliding with Doncic while trying to rebound his own miss.

“I should’ve kept Chris out of the game, especially right before halftime,” said Williams, one of three finalists to be Coach of the Year.

Paul was called for his fifth foul 2 1/2 minutes into the second half and sat out the rest of the third quarter. After returning early in the fourth he fouled out with 8:28 left in the game and played only played three minutes and 58 seconds in the second half.

“I’ve just got to look at myself and figure out how to do better,” Paul said.

Devin Booker led the Suns with 35 points, but with Paul finishing with just five, Phoenix couldn’t keep up.

“We understand that it’s a series,” Booker said. “It’s the playoffs for a reason. “We’re going to make our adjustments. … I think we just have to flush it and move on to the next game.”

Phoenix committed 17 turnovers in each of the games in Dallas, leading to 22 Mavericks points in Game 3 and 23 points in Game 4.

“That’s not us,” said Jae Crowder, who scored 15 points Sunday. “We haven’t done that all year.”

The Mavericks guaranteed themselves another home game — Thursday is Game 6 of the best-of-seven — and have performed well in their own building.

“It’s 2-2 and we worked to be in this position,” Williams said. “So I told our guys, we’ve got to have the mindset of coming back here and winning this thing.”

The Over had also seen lopsided action at both sportsbooks as of Tuesday morning. The 213.0-point market had seen the Over drawing 84 percent of the bets and 91 percent of the handle at DraftKings.

The slightly higher total of 213.5 points at BetMGM had seen the Over backed by 59 and 48 percent, respectively.

–Field Level Media

The Portland Trail Blazers named Joe Cronin as their permanent general manager on Tuesday, removing the interim title he’d held since Dec. 3.

He was moved into the position when president of basketball operations and general manager Neil Olshey was fired following an investigation into workplace misconduct.

Cronin will oversee all aspects of basketball operations.

“Joe has shown in his short time as interim GM that he is more than ready to continue leading the front office,” said Jody Allen, Portland Trail Blazers board chairperson. “We remain excited for the future of Trail Blazers basketball with Joe and (coach) Chauncey (Billups) driving a cohesive plan to build an even more competitive and winning roster.”

Cronin intends to rebuild the franchise around all-NBA guard Damian Lillard, who missed the final three-plus months of the season due to an adominal injury. The Blazers will have a top 10 draft pick and a $21 million trade exception to work with, gained with the trade of guard CJ McCollum to the New Orleans Pelicans in February.

Cronin joined the team as a basketball operations intern in 2006. In 2010, he was promoted to pro scout/salary cap analyst, then to director of player personnel in 2014 and assistant general manager in 2021.

The Blazers were 27-55 in the 2021-22 season, missing the playoffs for the first time since the 2012-13 season.

–Field Level Media

Lost in the mania about Joel Embiid’s dramatic, successful return in consecutive wins over the Miami Heat is that the Philadelphia 76ers have a former Most Valuable Player who played like it Sunday night.

After going scoreless and picking up two first quarter fouls, James Harden reminded everyone why he’s just four years removed from an MVP. He finished with 31 points, including 16 in the fourth quarter, of a 116-108 victory in Game 4. He added nine assists and seven rebounds.

Harden, Embiid and Philadelphia will try to take a 3-2 lead on Tuesday night in Miami when the Eastern Conference semifinal series resumes.

The 76ers are 3.5-point underdogs on the road at BetMGM, where the action has been fairly event with Miami backed by 51 percent of the spread bets but Philadelphia drawing 53 percent of the handle. The line is 3.0 at DraftKings, with the Heat supported by 46 percent of the bets and 64 percent of the handle.

Prior to Sunday night, Harden hadn’t scored more than 22 points in any of the 76ers’ nine playoff games. It certainly didn’t look like he would go on a tear when he joined teammate Tobias Harris in early foul trouble. But Harden delivered the kind of performance over the final three quarters one would expect from a former MVP.

His fourth quarter explosion included his trademark stepback 3-pointer from the top of the key that gave Philadelphia an insurmountable 114-103 lead with 1:07 remaining.

“We’re getting more confident as the series goes on,” Harden said. “Those first two games (were) a blur. But obviously, having Joel and having our full team, we kind of know what to expect. We know where to execute on both sides of the ball.

“It just makes the job a lot easier. Think about: We’re still a fairly new team. We’re damn near two months. So, when we finally catch a rhythm and finally find something that works, Joel goes off for a couple of games. So, we’re finally settling into the series.”

Not only Harden, but this year’s MVP finalist and league scoring champion, too.

Embiid contributed 24 points and 11 rebounds in his second game back from a fractured orbital bone and concussion. All five starters finished in double figures as the 76ers drained 16 of 33 3-pointers.

Meanwhile, the Heat are looking for the scoring balance that marked their two double-figure home wins in Miami. Jimmy Butler tried his best to carry the team with 33 and 40 points in the losses in Philadelphia but got precious little help.

Bam Adebayo was a non-entity in Game 3, although he did chip in 21 points on Sunday night. Tyler Herro helped some off the bench but wasn’t efficient. And Kyle Lowry’s left hamstring issue has flared up again, with the Heat ruling him out for Game 5 after he struggled (six points on 3-of-14 shooting) in Games 3 and 4.

There’s also the matter of Miami going cold from distance. In light of the 76ers’ work from 3-point range Sunday night, the Heat’s 7-of-35 marksmanship from the arc looks even worse.

“I thought we had some really good looks. We just missed them,” coach Erik Spoelstra said.

Miami has something else to worry about. Reserve center Dewayne Dedmon sat out Game 4 with an illness and his status for Game 5 isn’t known. Dedmon’s presence would at least give the team six more fouls to use against Embiid.

The relatively low 209.0-point Over/Under at DraftKings has led to 71 percent of the handle backing the Over. The same market opened at 210.5 points at BetMGM but moved to 209.5 with the Over slightly favored with 51 percent of the handle.

–Field Level Media

Miami Heat guard Kyle Lowry’s balky left hamstring will keep him on the sidelines for Tuesday night’s critical Game 5 against the visiting Philadelphia 76ers.

The best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series is tied at 2-2.

Lowry, 36, sustained the injury during the top-seeded Heat’s first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks, missing the last two games of that series and the first two games against the Sixers — all Miami wins.

The six-time All-Star started both losses at Philadelphia in Games 3 and 4, accumulating a combined six points on 3-of-14 shooting (0 of 8 from 3-point range) with 10 assists, seven rebounds, three steals and five turnovers.

Lowry averaged 13.4 points, 7.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds in 63 starts during the regular season, his first with Miami and 16th in the NBA.

–Field Level Media