Against the heavens! Morant single-handedly crossed the barrier to face Downs to pull the bar to score points
In game three of the Grizzlies- timberwolves series, both teams can come out with a book.
The Grizzlies are "How I Challenge My Weaknesses, and the Timberwolves are "On Squandering 26 Points in Various Poses."
104-95, 2-1 on aggregate, the Grizzlies and Timberwolves were in tears, the former was crying with joy, the latter was dejected, and comedy and tragedy played out at the same time.
A game that fans enjoy, with the exception of Timberwolves fans.
In the first two games of the series, the coaches of the two teams have already put the battle of wits to the level of mutual control.
In the first game, Coach Finch made the Timberwolves a better prepared team, Towns and Edwards took turns "military training" Adams, directly hit the Grizzlies' lineup shortcomings, Adams can protect the basket can grab rebounds, but the pace is slow, whether directly against Downs, or misplaced defense Edwards are "educated", timberwolves attacked Memphis.
In the second game, it was The turn of Coach Jenkins to come up with a better game plan, after Adams opened the game quickly with two offenses, Jenkins decisively replaced the starting center, adjusted the internal rotation to Clark, Tillman and Anderson, improved defensive mobility and a sense of offensive space, the Timberwolves failed to respond, and the Grizzlies pulled back a set.
After tasting the sweetness of abandoning the Adams lineup, the Grizzlies did not have Adams' starting configuration in the third game, and the starting duo on the inside was Anderson and Jalan Jackson Jr., continuing the second game's military thinking, which was Jenkins's prediction for the third game.
Jenkins's prejudgment, Finch prejudged.
The Timberwolves expected the Grizzlies to make the lineup smaller, Finch saw the move, you give up the tall center, I will rush to the basket, directly 12-0 start, the first quarter of the Timberwolves have led by 18 points, the penalty area scored 18-4 to form a suppression.
The Timberwolves' bombardment of the Grizzlies' basket was spearheaded by Beverley, who continuously killed the restricted area, and specially "named" Morant, tortured Memphis's peerless waist in various postures, and put the Grizzlies Ace's relatively poor defense on the table and showed the audience with a "magnifying glass".
Led by Beverley, the Timberwolves perfectly implemented the game plan of playing to the basket in the first quarter, the ball was transferred inside and out, and the three-point shot was also initiated from the near basket area, using the alignment advantage formed by the body condition to attract the bag clamp up, and then transmitted to the periphery.
The Timberwolves' impact in the first quarter caught the Grizzlies off guard, and Morant, Brooks, and Jalen Jr. all suffered two fouls. The Timberwolves not only gave a suppression plan on the offensive end, but also prepared on the defensive end, shrinking the defense to block the box, focusing their defense on limiting the Grizzlies' attack on the basket and moderately putting the Grizzlies' three-pointers.
Finch's defense is based on data, the Grizzlies are strong in the basket, averaging 60 points in the box in the first two games of the playoffs, and the playoff teams are unsurpassed, but their average three-point shots per game rank 13th among 16 playoff teams, averaging second-to-last three-point shooting per game, and the three-point shooting rate of 29.5% is only better than the Eagles. Finch's tactic is to try to weaken the Grizzlies' offensive strengths and test the Grizzlies' response to relative weaknesses.
In the first quarter, the Grizzlies only scored four points in the box, while their first quarter average in the first two games was 17 points, while the Grizzlies shot 13 three-pointers in this quarter, more than double their average three-point shots (6) in the first two first quarters.
The Timberwolves played the first quarter of the other way, they were the second-most three-pointer per game in the playoffs, but in the first quarter of the game, from downs, they all worked hard to suppress the long-range flames that were rushing in their hearts, and the whole team shot 7 times in this quarter, accounting for 29% of the shots in this quarter, while the Grizzlies' first quarter was 54%.
The Timberwolves tactical execution was in place to grab the start, leading by up to 26 points in the second quarter, but then..., there was no then.
Jenkins insisted on his own personnel allocation, that is, not on Adams, Jenkins gambled, one was to bet that the Timberwolves' strong rushing basket could not last long, the other was to bet that the Timberwolves would let the Grizzlies shooters feel good, and the third was to bet on Jalen Jr. and Towns who fouled more and faster.
The Grizzlies used a big comeback to prove Jenkins was right.
The Timberwolves scored an 18-4 lead in the first quarter of the penalty area, but when the whole game was over, the two teams drew the data 40-40, that is, the Grizzlies countered the Timberwolves 36-22 in the last three quarters, and this countermeasure in addition to the Grizzlies' own ability to rush and kill, but also with a three-point shot to open the Timberwolves defense.
The Grizzlies' 14 three-point shots were not particularly explosive, but six of them came from the fourth quarter, and they shot 60 percent of their three-pointers in the final quarter, not only shooting accurately, but also giving a variety of shooting methods.
Including Morant's sudden score, Bain received the ball and shot three points.
There was also Jones dribbling to block and force a three-point shot.
Bain scored 7 three-pointers with 26 points, Jones made 3 of 3 of 11 three-pointers to contribute to the fourth quarter, the Grizzlies shoot, and the Timberwolves had to expand their defense to avoid "too much blood loss" on the perimeter, which required Towns to do more under the basket, both offensive and defensive, but Towns played sleepwalking.
Only three of the 20 games that have committed 5 or more fouls this season (regular season + playoffs), Jaren Jr. has 23 firsts and Towns has 20 thirds. In the first two games of the series, Jalen Jr. made 9 fouls and Towns 8 fouls, both of them committed 5 fouls, but their tactical value levels were different, Jenkins could use the lineup smaller, using Anderson and Tillman to partner the inside line, and Finch used Downs as the best point of advantage, removing this point would seriously damage the Timberwolves' offensive strength, and the defense was also lacking in height, although Downs defense was difficult to say.
Downs, who made five fouls, had only 8 points and 5 rebounds on 3-of-4 shooting, and 5 blocks proved that his height was still very favorable to the basket, but the scoring on the offensive end did not hurt the Timberwolves too much, and when the game went against the wind, Towns failed to give the home star to bear the return shot.
Towns shrank from a trapped foul, the Grizzlies threw another three-pointer, the Timberwolves went wrong at both ends of the attack, and the offensive end lost the ferocity of the first quarter, throwing 28 three-pointers in the last three quarters, including 11 shots in the fourth quarter but only Edwards hit one. The Timberwolves were constrained by the Grizzlies' more and more fierce three-point shots on the defensive end, which could only expand the defense, and the Downs guard was limited by fouls, and the result was that the outside defense did not match the Grizzlies' fiery feel, and the inside line was not defended, and Clark's 20 points came from the fourth quarter.
Scoring in the fourth quarter of the penalty area, the Grizzlies exploded the Timberwolves 12-2, and the three-point shot complemented the basket to achieve a 37-12 turnaround in the Grizzlies' final quarter.
Morant's shooting efficiency in this 18-shot 5 is very poor, but the plus-minus is +20, the data is 16 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists of the economic triple-double, his personal offense has indeed been weakened, but the tandem teammates are in place, or so to speak, the strong response of the teammates makes Morant's pass into an assist.
The Grizzlies stuck to their strategy of not giving the Timberwolves any chance to target Adams, challenging their weaknesses when the game was unfavorable, dragging the game with three-pointers that were not strong, and finally waiting until the inside passage opened to achieve internal and external docking.
Finch won the opening, but in the fourth quarter when facing the Grizzlies' counter-offensive waves, until the score was overtaken, it was called a timeout, Towns played like a garbage heap, but also provided opportunities for the Grizzlies, the Grizzlies This "celebration banquet", without Finch and Towns, it is really not easy to eat.
There is a saying in the playoffs that the series began with winning on the road, the Timberwolves and Grizzlies both won on the road, and the fourth game will be crucial, the Grizzlies will get the promotion point 3-1 in two consecutive cities on the road, and the Timberwolves can equalize the total score if they are guarding the home court.
There is still suspense in this series, but at least the Grizzlies have taken the initiative, depending on whether they will expand the initiative next, or the Timberwolves are brave, especially Mr. Tang.