The Battle of Tennozan begins
The Seventh Timberwolves of the West, young is their biggest weakness, but also the final hole card. Because they are young, they will encounter a big reversal of the opponent in a certain game, and because of their youth, they can burst out of great energy in a desperate situation, and then drag the second-place Grizzlies in the West into the battle of Tianwangshan. Before the battle of Tennoyama began, this series was three wins and two wins for both teams, and whoever won the battle of Tennoyama would have an absolute advantage in the series.
Compared to the Timberwolves, the Grizzlies are under more pressure. They are the second team in the West, and the Battle of Tennosan is their home field, arguably there is no reason to lose. The Timberwolves lost and can return to the home court to fight again, but if the Grizzlies lose, they will go to the Timberwolves' home court, and it is the pressure of falling behind 2-3.
Morant's last quarter erupted
Morant opened with a cold start, shooting 0-of-2 in the first quarter, even the free throws were only 4-of-1, with 1 point, 1 rebound and 4 assists, but fortunately, Bane showed the strength of a muscle shooter, 8 points, 1 rebound and 1 block on 3-of-5 shooting, Clark on the bench also had 8 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist, the team still got 28 points in a single quarter, and the Timberwolves bombed 31 points. After returning from the second quarter, Morant gradually regained his touch, scoring 5 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists on 2-of-4 shooting, and Bane had 7 points, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 block.
The Grizzlies scored just 25 points in the quarter, but the Timberwolves scored just 24 points, with Edwards scoring nine. At the end of the half, the Grizzlies trailed the Timberwolves by two points, 53-55. In the second half, Downs began to take over the game, shooting 3 of 4, 2 of 2 three-pointers, 12 points and 3 rebounds in a single quarter, leading the Timberwolves to 30 points, Morant, although in the last minute, staged a good play of clipping Beasley, but only 6 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists in a single quarter, the Grizzlies only scored 21 points, already 11 points behind the Timberwolves.
After returning from the final quarter, the Grizzlies didn't give up, Bane hit consecutive three-pointers, and Morant and Clark teamed up to create a 10-0 mini-climax that directly narrowed the gap to one point. At the critical moment, Beverley played with a single hand, but Morant also threw in, Beverley made six fouls, Towns hit the key three-pointer, Morant made two fouls, and then hit three points to complete the counterattack. Russell missed a key attack and then had to foul, and Morant made both free throws to help the team stand undefeated.
The Timberwolves shouted out the last timeout, and after the timeout came back, they ran a successful tactic, Edwards hit a three-pointer to tie the score, and there were only 3.7 seconds left. The Grizzlies gave Morant the final attack and broke through the layup to complete the kill. In the end, the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 111-109 to give them a 3-2 lead in the series.
The Grizzlies take down Mt. Tenno
In the first three quarters of the game, there should be many fans who feel that Morant's personal performance is very bad, and even to some extent, it drags down the team, but in the last quarter, when it comes to competing for superstars, Morant stands out. 18 points in the final quarter, plus a layup, managed to save the team. At the end of the game, Morant had 30 points, 13 rebounds, 9 assists and 3 steals, and his personal performance was extremely good. Bain also has a comprehensive statistic of 25 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals and 3 blocks, and the attack and defense are good.
Clark on the bench became a surpriser, with 21 points, 15 rebounds and 3 assists on 9-of-14 shooting, grabbed 10 rebounds in the final quarter, and rebounded in the frontcourt, it is worth mentioning that the Timberwolves only had 6 frontcourt rebounds on the whole team. Towns had 28 points, 12 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, 2 blocks, Edwards also had 22 points and 1 rebound, and the key three points gave the Timberwolves hope of winning. Russell had just 12 points, 2 rebounds and 8 assists, while Beverly left the field with 9 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists.