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Grizzlies Reveal New Injury Diagnosis for Scotty Pippen Jr. Before Pacers Game
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- Grizzlies Reveal New Injury Diagnosis for Scotty Pippen Jr. Before Pacers Game
(Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images)
The Memphis Grizzlies listed Scotty Pippen Jr. as out with a lumbar disc herniation for Wednesday's game against the Indiana Pacers , according to the team's status report. Tip-off at FedExForum is 7 p.m. CT.
Quinten Post is questionable with a right ankle sprain.
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The report did not include a timeline for Pippen. For the previous two games, Memphis had listed him with lower back soreness. He was questionable for the Oct. 31 game against the Sacramento Kings and did not play. On Monday, the team had him as doubtful against the New Orleans Pelicans, then ruled out both him and Post at 6:06 p.m., less than an hour before tip-off.
Pippen Last Played Oct. 29 at Portland
His last appearance came at Portland on Oct. 29, when he scored 2 points on 1-of-1 shooting in a 124-103 win over the Trail Blazers.
Undrafted out of Vanderbilt in 2022, Pippen played six games for the Lakers as a rookie on a two-way contract. Memphis signed him to a two-way deal on Jan. 16, 2024.
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That February, Pippen hurt his back in a loss to the Pelicans. An MRI showed a bulging disc. The Grizzlies said he would be reevaluated in three weeks.
He started 21 games in 2024-25. Over that season, his first full one in Memphis, Pippen averaged 9.9 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 4.4 assists.
Surgery on his left big toe in October 2025, a sesamoidectomy, kept him out until Feb. 6. He needed the same procedure on his right big toe in March. The two operations held him to 10 games last season, when he averaged 11.4 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 4.7 assists.
Post Sprained His Ankle in the Same Game
Post sprained his right ankle at Portland. The Grizzlies called him doubtful to return. He did not come back, leaving with 10 points and 4 rebounds in a game Memphis won by 21. Three of his five shots went in, including two of his three 3-point tries.
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Saturday's report had Post doubtful, and he sat against the Kings. Monday's report moved him up to questionable before the same 6:06 p.m. update that ruled out Pippen.
At Utah on Oct. 26, Post scored 9 of his 12 points in one third-quarter stretch off the bench . He shot 5-of-6. He scored 7 in the Oct. 21 opener against Utah, had 2 points and 2 blocks in his return to Chase Center , and scored 7 at Sacramento.
Memphis had beaten Golden State by three and Utah by five, and Ty Jerome said the Grizzlies had been in dogfights and clutch-time games.
"That's who we know that we are," Jerome said in a postgame interview with Grind City Media, the Grizzlies' in-house outlet. "Each game has been a little different. Tonight we had everyone step up. Shout out to them. Quinten Post finally had a great game, and he was big for us tonight."
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"Everyone down the line was huge for us tonight," Jerome continued. "That's who we are. We're a deep team. We've been saying that all year. And we're going to try to show something."
Pippen scored 7 off the bench that night. Utah's reserves were outscored 48-40.
"Up until now, our second unit has been this pace-and-play style with a lot of shooting," Post said in a separate Grind City Media interview.
"Obviously, we have Cam, who is one of the best shooters in the league, and then Jerami, GG, me, and Pip to really push the pace," Post continued. "And we found some success in that third quarter especially, just running hard, finding shooters, and that's kind of the energy that we got to bring on that bench."
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Memphis signed Post to a three-year, $30 million offer sheet on July 6. Golden State declined to match, and he signed with the Grizzlies on July 8.
The Warriors drafted him 52nd overall out of Boston College in 2024. Last season, he averaged 7.7 points and 4.0 rebounds in 67 games for Golden State.
Memphis Split Two Games Without Both
Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo has said he believes Memphis is the fourth-youngest team in the league.
"I personally don't consider it a luxury," Iisalo said. "I consider it a necessity in this schedule. We have an 82-game schedule. We've got to find, on a nightly basis, got to find those guys who are able to bring the [juice] and at the same time bring the necessary focus and be in that attack mode from the first moment on."
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"And I think we definitely have that type of team, and I think we made a huge run in the first half building that lead, especially with our bench guys, and that's great to see," Iisalo continued.
Jerome sat out the Kings game too, with upper back soreness. The Memphis bench scored 81 in a 136-105 win. Isaiah Stewart had 24 points on 8-of-9 shooting, and Cam Spencer started at point guard and had 13 assists without a turnover.
"Everybody's got to be ready when their number is called," Iisalo explained. "I feel like our guys did exactly that."
Jerome came back Monday and scored 40 on 14-of-22 shooting against the Pelicans. The last 9 Memphis points of regulation were all his. Zach Edey fouled out with 6 points and 9 rebounds. Stewart had 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 fouls.
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The 135-134 overtime loss was Memphis' first. Six straight wins to open the season had matched the best start in franchise history , a mark the 2014-15 Grizzlies also hit on the way to 55 wins.
Houston, at 7-1, is the only team ahead of Memphis in the Western Conference.
One of Indiana's two wins in eight games came on opening night in New Orleans, 123-120 over the same Pelicans team that beat Memphis on Monday.
Oklahoma City is in Friday at 7 p.m. CT. The Grizzlies play at Toronto on Monday.
