Flat basket death compartment! Morant knocked over the Timberwolves
Watch young Ja-Morant play, full of peak Willy's sense of sight.
In the first three quarters, Morant was in a Westbrook dilemma, he had played a quasi-triple-double, but the offensive efficiency was extremely low and there were too many mistakes. Although Morant completed a super dunk that was enough to enter the Dunk of the Year awards, this could not hide his technical flaws without projecting threats.
But in the fourth quarter, Morant showed the same big heart as Wei Shao. At the crucial moment, Morant's free throw bounced and hit a rainy three-pointer. In the face of Patrick Beverley's provocation, he was calm and composed, and at the last moment, he completed the pull-stick left-handed layup and shut up his opponent in the toughest way.
Throughout the game, Morant fought for 45 minutes and shot 9 of 22, including 1 of 4 three-pointers, 11 of 17 free throws, 30 points, 13 rebounds, 9 assists and 3 steals. In the final quarter, Morant scored 18 points in a single quarter, setting a record for the highest score for a Grizzlies player in the late playoffs. Morant managed the team's last 13 points, from the team's 13-point deficit to the team's reversal, he helped the Grizzlies narrowly beat the Timberwolves 111-109 and take a 3-2 lead to win the game point.
Whether it is the luxurious data of the quasi-triple-double, or the style of play, or the drama from the devil to the angel, Morant looks like a copy of Wei Shao.
"Every 10-20 years, there's always a player like this, and Morant is definitely one of the chosen ones," said morant, who commented on ESPN's show, adding that Morant's performance today is also worthy of the praise of his predecessors.
Last year, Morant averaged 30.2 points and 8.2 assists per game in the playoffs for the first time, shooting 48.7 percent from the field. In front of Rudy Gobert, Morant showed excellent throwing and basket finishing ability. In the regular season, Morant continued his outstanding performance in last year's playoffs, averaging 27.4 points, 6.7 assists per game, and shooting 49.3% from the field, which also made him an All-Star and won the Most Improved Player Award.
In this year's playoffs, ahead of today's fourth quarter with the Timberwolves, Morant's performance was really not qualified. Desmond Bain and Brandon Clarke are even more eye-catching. In the first four games, Morant averaged 20.5 points and 10.8 assists per game, but shot just 40 percent from the field and 27.3 percent from three-point range. In the first three quarters of today, Morant shot 5-of-13 and conceded as many as six free throws.
Why is it that after only one year, Morant's playoff stats and efficiency have shrunk a lot? The playoffs are targeted, last year's playoffs, the Jazz are not afraid of Morant's breakthrough, Gobert has always been rooted in the basket defense, giving Morant the opportunity to break through the throw, jazz believe in Gobert's defensive deterrent. This year's Timberwolves do not have a top basket guard such as Gobert, they adopt a sea of people tactics, not only shrinking the basket, but also every time Morant breaks they will use two or three people to block, they are also very focused on retreat, pinchIng Morant's counterattack.
Under the Defense of the Timberwolves, Morant's three-second shooting rate was only 47.8%, the throwing zone shooting rate was only 37.5%, and he still averaged 20.5 times per game to break through the third place in the league, but the shooting rate was only 40%, compared with Doncic, Brunson and other breakthrough players.
The lack of threat in the outer projection is a well-known technical flaw in Morant. The Timberwolves knew that Morant was not as capable of shooting from mid-range as Iverson and Derrick Rose were, and he didn't even have Westbrook's unstable zombie shots. The Timberwolves determined that Morant was no threat from outside the three-point line, and that after entering the three-point line, there was only a threat in the throwing zone and the three-second zone under the basket, so they placed a heavy defense in the box.
There is no problem with the Timberwolves' tactical arrangement, but Morant is the "waist king" after all, no matter how the Timberwolves block the box, he can still find the Timberwolves defensive end of the communication error, and then step on the ladder to the basket.
For example, in the final moments of the third quarter, when Morant held the ball to block the demolition, the Timberwolves' defense was obviously a problem, And Naz Reed did not focus on Morant, resulting in Morant accelerating straight into the basket and taking off to stage a death block.
For example, in the final moments of the fourth quarter, Anthony Edwards paid the price for his youth and impatience, and he was too eager to bypass the steals from behind, only to be successfully received by Morant. Morant then burst into the basket to complete the left-handed pull-bar layup.
Throughout the series, Morant was indeed targeted by the Timberwolves. In addition to the Defensive End Man Sea Tactics pinch Morant to break through, the offensive end also formulated a lot of roll call tactics against Morant, and Beverley scored in front of Morant in the fourth quarter. But Morant is tough enough and resilient enough that, like Peak Westbrook, he can respond when targeted with his talent.
Most importantly, Morant, like Westbrook, does not lack a big heart. 1:03 ahead of the game, when the Grizzlies trailed by two points, Morant received an offensive rebound from Brandon Clarke that desperately grabbed and hit a three-pointer. Prior to that, Morant was 0-of-3 from three-point range and 3-of-11 from the first four games of the series. In this kind of fighting moment, Morant dared to shoot in a way that he was not good at, and he could imagine how confident he was in himself.
After all, in the playoffs, it is perfectly normal for a star to be targeted because of technical flaws, and the key to distinguishing ordinary players from great players is whether there is enough willpower to persevere and fight back.
In as far away as Brooklyn, a player refused to play before game four of the first round of the playoffs before game 4 of the first round of this year on the grounds that "psychological trauma has not recovered, and psychological trauma has led to the appearance of back injuries.".