Rudy Gay will miss the rest of the season and the playoffs due to a shoulder injury that now requires surgery to repair. Gay has been out five weeks, during which the Memphis Grizzlies have gone 8-6, treading water but maintaining a two-game lead on the Houston Rockets for the No. 8 seed in the West.
Memphis had hoped to have Gay back for the stretch run and a prospective first-round playoffs series against the Spurs, Lakers or Mavericks. Alas, Tony Allen and Sam Young will have to continue to pick up the slack to the best of their abilities, with Zach Randolph handling much of the scoring load.
Tom Lorenzo of SB Nation's Straight Outta Vancouver thinks the healthy Grizzlies can handle it.
Tony Allen has done a fantastic job since the Gay injury. His defense has been spectacular, and offensively he's been great on the break. Allen has undoubtedly been our second most valuable player since the Gay injury.
Since Gay went down, the team has gone 8-6, having played nine playoff teams and beaten the likes of the Spurs, Thunder and Mavs. Really, Grizz fans, all is not lost. Just some.
The trade deadline addition of Shane Battier could loom large; Houston shipped the veteran back to Memphis in a look toward the future, receiving the Grizzlies' first-round pick and Hasheem Thabeet. If Gay's injury leads to the Rockets overcoming Memphis, it'll be another brutal blow for Grizzlies fans who had suffered through a lot of losing before getting to this point, with the playoffs in sight.