The NBA regular season continues, with the West ushering in a dark horse-to-dark showdown, with the recently in-form Grizzlies sitting at home to take on the Timberwolves.
The two teams have become the dark horses of the West this season, and the Grizzlies have won 10 consecutive games before the game began, equaling the fourth-place Jazz in terms of record.
The Timberwolves are not spared, with the three cores of Towns + Russell + Edwards bursting out in succession, the team has got rid of the fish belly ranks, to the ninth position in the West, just one step away from the top eight, so for both teams, there is no doubt that more wins are needed to continue the momentum.
As soon as the game began, the Timberwolves were anti-away, quickly establishing an advantage with a fiery feel.
Despite the Grizzlies' swift response, the Timberwolves ended the first quarter with a six-point advantage.
In the second quarter, the Grizzlies gradually returned to winning streak, a wave of reversals, but the Timberwolves side Towns and Edwards stepped forward to solve the problem, regained the lead at the end of the half, and entered the half-time break with a seven-point lead.
The Timberwolves continued the momentum of the first half until the second half of the third quarter.
The Timberwolves were caught in a scoring drought, and after more than three minutes of not scoring a single point, the Grizzlies naturally did not waste a chance, filling in the gap with a wave of streams, and ending the third quarter with a six-point lead.
Entering the final quarter of the competition, the Grizzlies fell into a scoring drought, a full 4 minutes did not score a point, the Timberwolves took the opportunity to equalize, and then the score has been very sticky, until the key moments of the Timberwolves successive mistakes, coupled with the Grizzlies' steady free throw performance, and finally the Grizzlies defeated the Timberwolves 116-108, winning 11 consecutive wins at the same time, giving the opponent 2 consecutive losses.
The 11-game winning streak also set a new record for the longest winning streak in Grizzlies history and the longest winning streak in the league.
With this wave of winning streaks, the Grizzlies improved their record to 30-14, reaching third place in the West, and the Warriors lost to the Bucks, leaving the gap between the two teams by only 1.5 wins.
Judging from this game, the Warriors obviously have to be careful, because the Grizzlies are not 1-2 players in a bursting state, but a "bears out" state.
Among them, the core of the team, Morant, did not feel good in this game, played 32 minutes, only 5 of 16 shots, lost all 7 three-pointers, only had 16 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists, and also had 4 turnovers and 3 fouls.
But Morant's slump did not affect the Grizzlies' continued winning streak, after all, it was during Morant's injury absence that the Grizzlies began to play a winning streak.
In addition to Morant, the Grizzlies have four players to score in double figures, and all the rest of the players have scored at least 5 points and more.
Among them, Jalen Jackson performed the most eye-catching, shooting 6-of-10 from the field, 2-of-3 from three-point range, and delivering 20 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 5 blocks.
In addition to this game, Jaren Jackson has handed over at least 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 blocks in the past three games, becoming the first player in Grizzlies history to complete this feat, and the first player to complete this feat since 2014.
In the past three games, Jaren Jackson has delivered 26 points, 8 rebounds and 5 blocks, 21 points, 12 rebounds and 5 blocks, 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 blocks.
In addition, the starting Bain continued to be hot, playing 32 minutes, shooting 5 of 12, and getting a team-high 21 points, plus 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 steals.
Substitute Conchart handed over 15 points and 17 rebounds on 6-of-7 shooting, and Clarke handed over 14 points and 8 rebounds on 6-of-10 shooting, with plus-minus of +15 and +16 respectively, ranking in the top two of the team.
This is the epitome of the current performance of the Grizzlies, they have stars like Morant and Jaren Jackson, but they are not completely dependent on the two, but every player on the team has a stable role and contribution, which makes the Grizzlies look like the old Grizzlies who "don't die and shed their skin" in the past, and they also use actions to prove that Morant said that this Grizzlies deserve more respect.