At 114-106, the Grizzlies beat the Timberwolves to advance to the Western Conference semifinals by a 4-2 margin, and the team once trailed by 13 points at 53-66, and even entered the final quarter, still trailing 74-84, and finally being able to reverse, due to Morant's maturity, 3J Jackson's calmness, and the Timberwolves' immaturity.
Morant led the Grizzlies to reverse the Timberwolves 17+8+11 to advance
Edwards 7 of 11 blasted down 20 points, McDaniels 4 of 3 three points contributed 10 points, the Timberwolves led by 3 points at halftime, and after entering the third quarter, McLaughlin excellent combing, Towns's central strategy, the two led the Timberwolves to play a very good offense, the Timberwolves once led 13 points 66-53, under adversity, the Grizzlies began to launch a counterattack, and Morant was the first leader.
First, morant's maturity.
Faced with the Timberwolves' tough defense and his limited long-range shooting ability on the offensive end, Morant is pragmatic, combing the team more in the first half, contributing only 4 points in 1 of 6, but when the team is in trouble, his choice:
Morant strong 2+1
Even if the knife is on the fire, but when the team is in trouble, as the leader of the team, you also have to step on the knife mountain, enter the sea of fire, and carry the team forward, which is what Morant does. In the third quarter, 7 minutes 30 to 4 minutes and 30 seconds, Morant responded, Brooks three points, and then as shown in the picture, two breakthroughs of 2+1, Brooks threw and Anderson's breakthrough, and then assisted Brooks three points, Morant led the team to a 15-3 offensive flow to chase the score to 68-69 only one point difference.
Morant this quarter 7 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal, did not let the Timberwolves completely crazy the first credit. While McLaughlin led the Timberwolves to another advantage, two details that could not be ignored during the game were actually in the Grizzlies' favor.
Second, 3J's calmness.
Before this game, 3J-Jackson averaged 22 minutes, the reason is very simple, 2 times 6 offenses graduation, 2 times 5 offenses, only 1 time 4 fouls, caught in foul trouble, so that he can not keep himself on the court, and today, the first three quarters of the war, Jackson has appeared in 22 minutes away only 3 fouls, can calm themselves down to avoid getting into foul trouble, the Grizzlies finally waited for the interior leader they expected 3J Jackson, the effect:
With 7 minutes left in the final quarter, 3J only made four fouls
Trailing 10 points 74-84 into the final quarter, Morant rested time, Conchar steals, 3J chases three points; Jones three-point and Clark make two fouls, 3J strong basket to win; Timberwolves 92-86 lead again, 3J a dunk and a foul 2-1 shot, the score chased to 89-92. Note that in the previous 5 games, 3J has only scored 8 points in total, and so far in the last quarter of today, he has scored 8 points alone, taking the lead in carrying the team.
Morant assisted the 3J heavy buckle
In the full game, 3J played the most 34 minutes since the series, the effect, he contributed 18 points, 14 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 2 blocks in response to Downs' interior output, one of the details the Grizzlies were able to reverse.
Third, the immaturity of the timber wolf.
Towns blindly threw three points
The previous two leading situations into the final quarter were reversed, the Timberwolves paid tuition for growth, and today is the same, when the Grizzlies chased to 97-97 in the last 5 minutes, Towns, Edwards and Daniels were obviously flustered again, three consecutive blind one-hit three-point shots on the outside, the Timberwolves offensive efficiency plummeted, and there were 4 turnovers, while the Grizzlies?
Morant assisted Jones on a three-pointer
101-99 only two points ahead, Morant, who has been combing the team, suddenly killed the paint to complete the pull-up layup; the Timberwolves chased to 102-103, Morant calmly divided the ball to Jones at the top of the arc after continuous operation, the latter directly three points; McLaughlin layup to force the score again to a goal difference, Morant broke through to calmly find Clark at the free throw line, the latter vacated and then passed, Jackson dunked to kill the game suspense.
Throughout the final quarter, Morant had 6 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists, leading the team to a comeback.
At this point, how did the Grizzlies complete the reversal when they trailed by 13 points? Morant's maturity, 3J's calmness, and especially the Timberwolves are still paying high tuition fees for growth, the result of three points of synergy.