Refusing to grab seven, harvesting promotions, the Grizzlies did it in Minneapolis. At 114-106, the Grizzlies reversed the game once again, returning to Memphis with a 4-2 aggregate score for the Western Conference semifinals with the Warriors.
It was the first time the Grizzlies broke through the first round of the playoffs since 2015, and they fell to the Western Conference semifinals seven years ago, beating them by the Warriors.
Seven years on, the Grizzlies are back. The Memphis basketball team in 2015 had five veterans aged 30+, and today's Grizzlies, Kyle Anderson and Adams are the oldest, all under the age of 29. Compared to seven years ago, the Grizzlies have completely completed a lineup change.
The Warriors have also changed a bit compared to seven years ago, but four of the top five players in that series are still wearing Warriors jerseys: Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Iguodala.
Between change and invariance, the Grizzlies, with an average age of 24 years old, the second youngest in the league, faced the "Tangku Chase" who eliminated them seven years ago, and the first round of clearance was only a primary challenge for the young Grizzlies.
The first round of the contest is the tempering of the Grizzlies in the storm of youth, the Grizzlies are young, and so are the Timberwolves, the typical Youth Army against the thorns. Young and energetic, the pace of the game is fast, and the number of rounds in the series ranks first in the eight sets of duels.
The rhythm of the game is brought up, which tests the player's ability to control the court, which is the weakness of the young team, and after the first five games, the Timberwolves average the most turnovers per game of 16 playoff teams, and the Grizzlies are in fourth place.
The Grizzlies are second in the West and the Timberwolves are seventh in the regular season, but the difference in strength between the two teams is by no means as large as the ranking gap, and it is closer to the advantages between Bo Zhong. After experiencing the mutual explosion of the first and second games, the series entered the stage of grinding and strangulation, and the total point difference between the third and fifth games was 12 points, and the difference between the fourth and fifth games was 1 point and 2 points.
The series played to this stage, the first than who made fewer mistakes, the reason why the Timberwolves fell behind 2-3 in the first five games, mainly because they made too many mistakes, squandered a 26-point lead in the third game, and the 11-point advantage in the 7 minutes before the end of the fifth game was reversed by the Grizzlies.
In the sixth game, the Grizzlies did not want to drag until the seventh, and the Timberwolves were even more reluctant to get out, and in this tense atmosphere, the two teams made eight turnovers in the first quarter, showing the series style of the youth without mistakes. The backward Timberwolves played more cautiously, especially on the defensive end, following the reduction of defensive strength on both wings, in the middle of the road heavy siege, limit Morant's breakthrough, this move is a double-edged sword, "the best waist" in the first quarter of 4 shots all lost to score zero, but the Grizzlies threw in 6 three-pointers, Bane not only gave the ball shot, but also withdrew three points after holding the ball, with the Timberwolves' defensive resources and rotation level, it is indeed unrealistic to want to hold the Grizzlies' basket and long-range shots at the same time, and can only choose one.
The Grizzlies unleashed three-point firepower, but it was the Timberwolves who led the first quarter, one because of Morant's dud, two because McDaniels came up with a three-point response of 3 of 3, and three because of Edwards.
The Timberwolves' scoring champion in this series is not Towns, nor Russell, but Edwards, who played the playoffs for the first time, although he paid some price for inexperience, such as the final moment of game 5, but in terms of offensive ability, the "Hanako" who has both body and projection is the most stable one for the Timberwolves.
Edwards picked out every defender the Grizzlies had in front of him in the first quarter, giving an efficient offensive output of 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting in a single quarter, pressing Morant to play and suppressing both offense and defense.
You face to face to pull Mo Shaoxia a three-pointer, but also split the head to cover the face to give a big hat what does it mean, is this not "bullying" people?
Edwards' biggest selling point in the draft is his excellent physical talent, his shooting and defense are set by scouts as "unstable", two years into the NBA, Edwards has practiced a stable long-range projection and a body shape that can fight with the opponent's attack and defense. In this series against the Grizzlies, Edwards shot 67 percent from the field and shot 40 percent from three-point range.
Young people with excellent physical condition and a small job on their hands are a fortune for any team.
Such a young man, the Timberwolves have another one, and that is Towns.
Edwards' offensive in the first quarter gave the Timberwolves a life-and-death battle, and Downes's calmness in the third quarter gave the Timberwolves a reassurance. The Timberwolves led by 13 points with 6:58 left in the third quarter, and then began to wave, and the game went into their familiar scenes, attacking all kinds of brute force, defensive laziness, and the Grizzlies made the Timberwolves jump with a wave of 12-0.
When he saw that he was about to collapse again, Towns sent two assists, and he used his physical advantage in the middle of the road to grind inwards, drawing the defense over to feed his teammates, this ability to read the game is the most lacking in the Timberwolves, they are full of talent, but the overall view of the game does not match the talent. Towns handled the ball correctly this time as his opponents went on a point-chasing spree, McLaughlin and McDaniels responded aggressively as supporters, and the Timberwolves played some discipline on the edge of the cliff.
However, it was the Grizzlies who won the game.
In the final 7 minutes and 16 seconds of the fourth quarter, the Grizzlies hit the Timberwolves 25-8, they failed to control the situation in the first quarter, and the third quarter chased fiercely by the Timberwolves, but in the fourth quarter, they hit the headwind again and finally broke through the pack of wolves.
The Grizzlies win over their grittiness in the face of setbacks, the struggle in the decisive moment, and the execution of the Timberwolves when they need to compete most of who makes fewer mistakes.
Morant's personal offense was very depressing, forced by the Timberwolves' upline, the bottom line was tortured to only 4 of 14 shots, and the goal was not more than 5, but he had 11 assists, and 8 rebounds, including 3 rebounds in the frontcourt. During the Grizzlies' sweeping victory in the final seven minutes, Morant sent out three assists to grab two frontcourt boards.
In moments of either advancing or grabbing seven, Morant played more calmly and fiercely, pressing the Timberwolves' defense and creating shooting space for his teammates, who also grasped Morante's sudden passing quite efficiently.
The Grizzlies shot 12-of-23 in the fourth quarter, 6-of-12 from three-point range, eight assists in a single quarter, timberwolves 7-of-19 from the field, 2-of-10 three-pointers and four assists. With 16-7 rebounds in this quarter and 6-1 rebounds up frontcourt, the Grizzlies are the ones who have the upper hand. When it comes time to hammer the nail on the head, the Grizzlies have a smoother offense and a more ferocious scramble.
In the first round of eight sets of matches, the fourth quarter of the most efficient offense is the Grizzlies, the fourth quarter of the defensive efficiency is also the best, they won 41.6 points in the fourth quarter of the 100 rounds, such a final quarter offensive and defensive strength, and their slightly green face is not commensurate, this is precisely the strength of the Grizzlies, they have young physique, but also accumulate mature game mode.
The playoffs need giant planets, but the playoffs can't just have giant planets, and game six for the Timberwolves is the best illustration. When Morant was trapped by the Timberwolves, Bane, Brooks, Jalen Jr., Clark, Jones and other teammates stepped forward one by one. The Grizzlies have 5 players in this series scoring in double figures, and the scoring king is not Morant, but Bane, who averages 23.5 points per game and shoots 4.5 three-pointers per game, but Morant has a comprehensive contribution of 21.5 points, 8.7 rebounds and 10.5 assists per game, or a good center for playing well.
The second round will be a resurgence of the Grizzlies' youthful landscapes colliding with the Warriors' old days, the story of Iguodala's refusal to play for the Grizzlies, and the Grizzlies eliminating the Warriors' old vendetta in last season's playoffs, making the series even more explosive.
The Warriors are the more experienced side, and Morant's short-board mid- and long-range shooting will be targeted by the Warriors, which will test mo shaoxia's ability to handle the ball and test the response of the Grizzlies teammates to the level of ball breaking.
At the same time, the Warriors' mobile offense will be a big test for the Grizzlies' defense, the Timberwolves are the kind of team that falls into a single head-to-head with a fight, and the Warriors' discipline is far better than that of the Timberwolves. Whether the Grizzlies can play a defense that is in place, especially how well they can change defenses, are all question marks.
When the game moves into a bayonet-fighting white-knife battle, the Grizzlies' small lineup will collide with the Warriors' Death Five Small 3.0, who can laugh last?
The three kings who have ruled the NBA for the past decade, Janduku, only Curry is still sticking to the playoffs, and Morant is the leader of the new generation of stars, this time is the old generation of basketball emperors guarding the throne, or the new king moving to the top?
The suspense is left for the game to reveal, but one thing is worth mentioning, unlike seven years ago, this time the home field advantage is in the hands of the Grizzlies.
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