When I was a kid, there was a very classic cartoon called Sheriff Bresta in which the protagonist had four superpowers: "the speed of a leopard, the eyes of an eagle, the ears of a wolf, and the strength of a bear." "Today the two super-powered protagonists, the Timberwolves and the Grizzlies, ushered in the second focus showdown, and I really enjoy watching the two teams play, because they are very young and energetic teams, which is like two fledgling novices in the fighting arena, there is no tentative offense after playing, and it will not be conservative, it is a confrontation, plus the Timberwolves are in the first game, the heart is high and the momentum is high, which adds a lot of competitiveness to the game.
After the opening, both sides took out their most successful offensive means to attack each other, the Grizzlies side is Morant, Bane take turns to attack the inside line, the Timberwolves side is the absolute strong point of the main Downs, both sides want to achieve their tactical intentions are extremely dependent on blocking and dismantling cooperation, Morant side has Adams and Jalen Jackson to cover for him, and timberwolves side Towns can provide high-quality blocking and dismantling cooperation, so the defensive quality of the two sides of the blocking and dismantling offense has become the key to the left and right, and the Grizzlies' defensive strategy is very clear. Encounter the block to immediately change defense, because they are very confident in the average strength of the team's players in each position, Jaren Jackson Jr. is the most versatile defensive player, the Timberwolves have many opportunities to misplace, while the Timberwolves' defensive strategy is to use The personal ability of Beverly and Edwards to seize the position in advance or delay the inside line, and then the defender quickly pursues, in terms of the defensive effect of the first quarter, it is obvious that the Timberwolves' defensive effect is better, and the Grizzlies' blocking and dismantling does not create many offensive opportunities. In turn, the Grizzlies could not handle downs at all, Adams and Jalan Jackson received two fouls early, Jenkins had to replace Adams with huge shortcomings, replaced by substitutes for interior Clark, Zair Williams, Anderson to start a wheel war with Towns, but they were not at the same level as Towns, Towns could score strongly under the Grizzlies' bag defense, so although the Grizzlies' offensive interior tactical intentions had been achieved, Downs also received two fouls in the first quarter. But the head coach still arranged for him to stay on the court, and the effect was huge, the Timberwolves continued to arrange for Towns to play at the beginning of the second quarter, which is a bit of a sword in advance, since you Grizzlies can't deal with Downs this point, then I will use this point to completely beat you up.
If the situation continues according to this situation, it may be another personal exhibition game in which Downs slashed 60 points, the Grizzlies had to send xavier Tillman, who has been very low in the ranking of appearances, sometimes fate is so wonderful, Tillman became a super surpriser, in the first 3 minutes of the second quarter, he defended Downs did not score a point, while he scored consecutive points under the basket, his excellent performance directly suspended the Timberwolves, and the suspension came back soon, Towns received his third foul on Morant and could only go down, when the second quarter was more than 7 minutes away, Towns, who was wearing three fouls, could no longer appear, which marked the complete failure of the strategy formulated by the Timberwolves, the Timberwolves who lost Downs also lost their main backbone, without Towns' high-quality blocking Edwards, Russell's threat on the offensive end fell sharply, their misplaced small hits could only be floating on the outside line to meet the defender's interference to shoot three points, the shooting rate dropped sharply, if it were not for Reid's outside three-pointers, They may lose their ability to resist in the second quarter, and the second half of the second quarter has fully entered the rhythm of the Grizzlies.
At the beginning of the third quarter, the Grizzlies, who had already entered the state, immediately played a wave of offensive climax, Morant, Jarren Jackson fully entered the state, the Grizzlies' best quick counterattack and outside three points were opened, they also pulled the score to more than 20 points, although Beverly was still encouraging his teammates, but it was completely useless, the Grizzlies main force returned to the court and gave Downs the focus of the defense around the front and the bag, he was severely limited, and as soon as the third quarter game ended, the Grizzlies firmly controlled the lead of about 20 points. The game has ended early.
Morant, Bain, and Jaren Jackson Jr. are indeed the core players who won this game, but Tillman is the key person to change the trend of the game, he played 21 minutes, had 13 points and 7 rebounds, shot 7 of 6, as a rookie selected with the 5th pick in the second round of 2020, he became another typical case of the Grizzlies management and coaching staff, and there are rumors about his trade at this year's trade deadline, but after this battle, he completely established a new position. Today's him reminds me of the classic '06 classic bullfight when Diop restrained Duncan from deciding the outcome of the game.
Through this game, it can be seen that the Grizzlies are much stronger than the Timberwolves, their team can play too much combat power, the Timberwolves' Edwards and Beverley have very great restrictions on Morant, but their team organizers also have Bane, dillon Brooks, and Tyes Jones, Adams is not working, Anderson, Tillman can contribute, hold the gourd up the scoop, the east side is not bright and the west side is bright, on the contrary, the Timberwolves, the head wolf Towns once restricted, the wolves will do birds and beasts scattered, Look at the Timberwolves' ability to adjust, the playoffs are a process of turning out tricks to see who can stand up to the end.