The brutal Grizzlies of the regular season are back. At 124-96, the Grizzlies swallowed the Timberwolves at home, pulling the total score to 1-1, winning 28 points to set a playoff record in Grizzlies history.
The game was a rebound for the Grizzlies after the first defeat, and a break through from Morant's many questions around him.
'From the match dashboard, the ball was only played for 3 minutes, but I looked at my watch and it was actually 22 minutes.
This is the spit of Grizzlies reporter Drew Hill, the Timberwolves are the fastest paced team in the regular season, the Grizzlies are in fourth place, so the two fast-flowing teams played a very old-school basketball in the second game of the series, pressing the rhythm, fighting the body, fighting defense, rushing under the basket, full of muscle grinding and strangulation.
Three minutes before the game, the Grizzlies have committed 5 fouls, Adams has committed two fouls and has a first-degree malicious foul, the Timberwolves have two fouls on the Downs, Beverly has a technical offense, and the 2022 playoffs have played the feeling of the 1980s and 1990s, the two teams opened with a full confrontation, the referee had to control it to avoid excessive action, and blew 20 fouls in the first quarter.
The whistle inevitably overcorrected, producing a feeling of discomfort in cutting the game, testing the ability of coaches and players to cope, the same starting center quick two fouls, the Grizzlies' Jenkins coach and the Timberwolves' Finch coach gave a completely different reaction, Jenkins decisively replaced Adams with Clark, and Finch let Downs play with two fouls for five minutes before replacing the field.
The two coaches have their own reasons, although Adams can provide the Grizzlies with height and rebounding, but the first game was "military training" by Towns and Edwards, the scene of the first game being "military training" was too cruel, and the two fouls in the opening 3 minutes just gave Jenkins a good reason to change, don't worry about Adams's emotions, and Finch did not change Downs because this is the Timberwolves' alignment advantage point, and it can be used more.
Throughout the first half, Adams played those 3 minutes, and Clark, Tillman and Anderson divided Adams' playing time. By the second half, Jenkins directly changed the starting line, Adams continued to sit on the bench, didn't the Timberwolves "name" Adams, and the Grizzlies simply did not let him.
Adams is not bound to have some negative effects, after all, he is the player with the highest rebounding rate in the regular season, but the output of the first game Ofance and Edwards facing Adams defense totaling 13 shots and 10 made the Grizzlies burst into tears, Clark and Tillman played the defense at least the flexibility is guaranteed, the new branch block king Jalen Jackson Jr. controls the foul, can sweep the basket behind the teammates who change the defense, and this defensive layering is also beautiful.
Abandoning Adams, the Grizzlies defensive shortcomings have been solved, so what about the offense? Leave it to Morant.
In the field of professional basketball, there are few such cases, the team record is the second in the league, the star played a burst of level, but has been repeatedly criticized, the problem is that the Grizzlies won 20 games in the 24 games that Morant was absent, which inevitably leads the Grizzlies, or the Grizzlies' coaches and teammates have picked him up?
Teams and stars are originally complementary, you pull Morant away from the Grizzlies, they can make the playoffs can't they? In the same way, without good coaches and teammates around him, can Morant take the team to second place in the league?
Besides, the regular season is one thing, the playoffs are another. The regular season focuses on team attributes, and the playoffs focus on star solving. The Grizzlies are a young and energetic team, but their opponents, the Timberwolves, also have such qualities, as evidenced by game 1 of the series, the Timberwolves are the team that fights harder and better.
Morant scored 32 points in the first game, but after the game was criticized for sticking the ball, the set of "no Morant Grizzlies will be better" theory has become a hot spot, but is there another point of view, in the face of the Timberwolves' ferocious "roll call" and rapid retreat, the Grizzlies can not play their favorite defense, can only fall into the position war, they in addition to Morant, who else has the high certainty of impacting the Timberwolves defense line?
Morant has technical shortcomings, his long-range is not so good, the advantage is to rush the basket, this season's average of 16.6 points per game in the league first, his impact can be directed at Downs.
The Timberwolves quickly ate two fouls at Towns but did not immediately replace him, the purpose is to use his counter-positioning suppression, Morant saw the move to the defensive area of Downs, Towns faced Morant's charge, can only put his hands on his chest, afraid of taking a foul.
This is the ability that stars need to give in playoffs. The team's combat strength determines the lower limit of the team, and the upper limit is in the hands of the star with better talent conditions, and it is no joke to be a good waist.
The Timberwolves are well aware of Towns' defensive weaknesses, and they try not to expose Downs directly to Morante, chasing around the cover when the block is demolished, and Towns retreats to the basket after a slight delay, but Morant can still seize this fleeting opportunity to feed his teammates.
Imagine, in addition to Morant, will the Grizzlies have other players who can take off with their teammates again and again under such defensive intensity?
Morant played 30 minutes to get 23 points, 9 rebounds and 10 assists, plus or minus +24, only two simultaneous mistakes in the quasi-triple-double, the Grizzlies made 9 mistakes, 10 fewer than the Timberwolves, using the mistakes to score 28-15 to abuse the opponent, assists 29-16 to form a crush, rebounds in the front court 14-4 is also suppressed, and the score in the box 60-34 is even more explosive.
Also suffered from foul interference in the opening, the Grizzlies gave a response to the victory over the Timberwolves, which came from Jenkins' decisive substitution, from Morant to lead the assault and control mistakes, from the collective echo of teammates, especially Jaren Jackson Jr., whose defensive contribution needless to say, the offensive end threw 4 three-pointers quite a surprise, and the first game of 5 three-pointers 0 in stark contrast, when Jackson can shoot long-range shots, the Grizzlies can more confidently put Adams on the bench.
Morant also sent out two three-pointers, which is equivalent to letting the Grizzlies give the Timberwolves a set of combination punches, and it is already difficult to prevent breakthroughs, and it is even more difficult to let go of their three-pointers.
The Grizzlies played their traits led by Morant, while the Timberwolves lost the edge of the first game, Towns was tortured by fouls to just 15 points, Edwards is a good Timberwolf player, but the 20-point output is not small from the 36 points in the first game.
However, the series has only been played twice, and the Timberwolves' one win at Memphis is a complete task, the series will go to the Timberwolves' home, the Grizzlies have lost both games on the road in the regular season this season, and Morant has scored 31 points on 31 points on 10-of-33-pointers from each of those two games.
1-1, the battle has only just begun.