The NBA playoffs are in full swing, and the Timberwolves' first game against the Grizzlies shocked many people, but the Grizzlies are not really "soft persimmons", they strengthened the protection of Jaron Jackson in the second inning, gave up too much time for Adams, and pulled back a city with a 124-96 score, and the whole series was suspenseful again.
The timberwolves agreed to be very good at limiting Morant's offense, but that wasn't the case.
Although Morant in the first game did not have a good outside projection, he scored 32 points with continuous inward killing, almost single-handedly driving the team forward, but it is undeniable that the Grizzlies as a whole are still caught in the rhythm of the Timberwolves.
The Second Game of the Grizzlies reversed the situation strongly, this game, Morant played 30 minutes, 9 of 16 shooting, 4 of 4 three-pointers, 3 of 4 free throws, cut 23 points, 9 rebounds and 10 assists, it is obvious that although he has fewer offensive points in this game, the efficiency is not improved by one star and a half.
Moreover, he is very good at defending rebounds and organizing teammates.
Jalan Jackson Jr. controlled his mistakes, he played 27 minutes, 5 of 12 shooting, 7 of 7 three-pointers, 2 of 4 from the free throw line, cut 16 points and 7 rebounds, and 5 frontcourt rebounds were enough to illustrate his role on the court.
It is worth mentioning that Tillman on the bench became a "miracle soldier" to eat up the playing time left by Adams, he played 18 minutes, 7 shots 6, cut 13 points and 6 rebounds, contributed 4 frontcourt rebounds.
Although the Timberwolves performed well in the first game, the team, as a team that is good at offense and not good at defense, made a series of mistakes in the Grizzlies' defense in the second game of the series, and failed to play a complete offense.
Carl Anthony Downs experienced the usual treatment of Jaren Jackson in the previous game, suffering from five fouls, he played 28 minutes, 4 of 7 shooting, 7 of 8 free throws, and cut 15 points and 11 rebounds, but there were still 5 turnovers to score.
Edwards was the best performer on the team, shooting 7-of-16, 4-of-10 from three-point range, 2-of-2 from the free throws, and 20 points and six rebounds, but he also had five turnovers, the Timberwolves had 19 turnovers, and even their entire team had only 16 assists.
In this game, the Grizzlies won the three-point shooting rate, won the frontcourt rebound, won the assist, and even made fewer mistakes than the other side, and it was naturally easy to win.
In the first half, enter the rhythm of the Grizzlies.
In the first quarter, the offensive efficiency of the two sides was average, Towns and Edwards scored frequently, and Morant and Tillman played together to help the latter dunk 2+1, after using Adams for three minutes, they never let Adams play again, obviously, the Grizzlies have clarified Tillman's status.
In the playoffs, Adams, as a weak point in the targeted offense, is naturally not suitable for too much time.
The two sides began a free throw battle, and in the first quarter, the Timberwolves and Grizzlies combined 20 fouls, the Timberwolves made 9 fouls on the team, and the Grizzlies made 11 fouls.
Timberwolves players Towns, McDaniels, and Reid have all fouled twice.
The Grizzlies have all fouled Dillon, Jarren Jr., Adams and Clarke twice.
Meanwhile, Adams received a malicious foul and Beverley received a technical foul.
The Timberwolves trailed by just one point in the first quarter, 32-33.
In the second quarter, the two sides began a three-point attack in the bottom corner, and with 7 minutes left in the game, the Timberwolves trailed the Grizzlies 41-49, Towns threw a three-pointer and then moved his foot to get his third foul, and the situation in which Jalen Jackson Jr. was plagued by a foul was repeated in Downs.
Reid covered Jaren Jackson with 1v1, followed by a wave of consecutive turnovers on both sides, barely scoring for two consecutive minutes, but The Timberwolves Reed scored first, and the three-pointer soared, and the Grizzlies called out a timeout.
At this time, the difference between the two sides is still within the chaseable range, but the Timberwolves have lost the smooth offensive rhythm of the game, the Grizzlies have given up using Adams, the Timberwolves have no targeting weaknesses, there is no way to break the Timberwolves' tough defense, and the two sides enter the iron and error war, and this is the rhythm of the Grizzlies.
With 5 minutes left in the game, Jaren Jackson hit three points to stop the bleeding, and the two sides continued to miss and make mistakes in a row, and the game was completely an iron battle brought up by a strong defensive end.
With 3 minutes left in the game, the Grizzlies hit a wave of rhythmic morale, Dillon missed a three-pointer in the open slot, and Jalan Jackson Jr. made a violent dunk, which showed his value, the Grizzlies led by 12 points, and then Bane stepped back to hit a three-point shot, but Edwards made a layup to stop the bleeding.
In the final minute, the Grizzlies missed a straight three-pointer, the Timberwolves McDaniels missed a three-pointer, Edwardson grabbed Morant's ball, and at the end of the first half, the Grizzlies led the Timberwolves by 11 points at home 60-49.
In the first half, Morant had nine points, six rebounds and six assists on 3-of-7 shooting, and Bane had 12 points and two rebounds on 3-of-6 shooting.
In the second half, Morant's performance moment.
The third quarter began with the Grizzlies playing a big wave of rhythm, Morant making Downs fourth offense, Bane then easily broke through, and Morant retreated from a three-point shot to help the team lead to 19 points.
Dillon broke through to attract a defensive pass Clark dunked, Morant broke through with the ball and then turned around and then used his footsteps to shake off the hit, Morant hit another three-pointer from the outside, and the Grizzlies had led to 20 points.
With six minutes left in the game, the Timberwolves were forced to switch to an offensive lineup, but the Grizzlies played more easily, and they were already 25 points ahead of the offensive end.
But at this time, the Grizzlies had an accident, and Morant was suspected of being pushed to the side of his thigh and limped off the field.
With four minutes left in the game, while the Timberwolves continued to maintain offensive efficiency, Towns and Edwards continued to hit the basket to win, and Forest Alli played a wave of 7-0, but the score did not significantly close.
In fact, the Grizzlies' entire bench played very well, regaining strength, and the bench also blossomed in full force, Tillman hit a throw, Williams hit a three-pointer to stop the bleeding, and Jones turned around and easily threw a low-handed shot after turning around and past the defense.
In the final minute of the game, Anderson threw a good shot, Edwards stepped forward to hit a three-pointer, and the final attack, the Grizzlies Clarke's breakthrough in the last 5.7 seconds caused Le downs to make five fouls, two free throws and one shot, the Grizzlies led the Timberwolves by 19 points 96-77.
In the final quarter, Clark was hit by a big hat, the Grizzlies continued to press time to maintain the steady and steady play of the position battle, and Jalan Jr. received a three-point shot at the top of the arc, and the Grizzlies once again led to 21 points.
The Timberwolves were in a hurry, throwing three-pointers almost desperately, hitting one shot but then coming to an impasse, with Russell hitting consecutive three-pointers.
It seems that the Timberwolves have gone this game, after all, the face is so exaggerated point difference, there is almost no way to reverse without continuous three-point support, and the Timberwolves' three-point shooting efficiency in this game is not high.
With 9 minutes left in the game, the two sides exchanged mistakes, Jaren Jackson Jr. hit a fourth three-pointer, the Timberwolves 81-105 Grizzlies, at this time the five-foul Downs came on, he played a very big role on the offensive end of the inside, direct secondary offensive hit, Clark blocked the demolition after facing Towns to throw a shot.
Morant deliberately reined in his offense, but he is very strong in both offense and organization, which has led to the Grizzlies still maintaining efficient scoring, and in the face of this big-score backward situation, the Timberwolves have little morale at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends.
After entering the final 5 minutes, the Timberwolves decided to give up, the three were on the court to watch, the Grizzlies replaced Morant, also with a substitute lineup, and in the end, the Grizzlies pulled back a series draw 1-1.