On April 30, Beijing time, the last game of the first round of the NBA playoffs ended, and the Grizzlies defeated the Timberwolves 114-106, and the series scored 4-2 to advance. The game was a game of ups and downs, with the Timberwolves leading by 13 points in the third quarter, being overtaken by the Grizzlies in the fourth quarter and pulling away the points, and the game was not won until the last minute. After qualifying, they will face the warriors with the third-highest regular season record in the West, and the Grizzlies will have home advantage.
In this game, the Grizzlies core Morant, only 4 of 14 shots, got 17 points, although there are 11 assists, but also accompanied by 5 turnovers, if it is not teammates Bane, Dillon enough strength, the Grizzlies can not win this game. It's also a microcosm of this series, with the Grizzlies easily limiting Morant, who scored less than 20 points in three of the six games, G3, 5-of-18 with 16 points, G4, 4-of-13, 11 points, and 17 points from this game.
On a six-game average, Morant averaged 21.5 points per game and shot just 38.6 percent from the field. While his regular season stats are 27.4 points and 49.3 percent shooting, arguably a serious decline, Morant is indeed defended. The Grizzlies are not a defensive team in the regular season, the 13th in the league in defensive efficiency, only at a mid-level level, but can defend Durant. In last year's playoff against the Warriors, he scored 35 points on 14-of-29. Including the three regular season games against the Warriors this season, Morant scored 30, 21 and 29 points, averaging 26.7 points per game, shooting 46.7%, a slight decline, but it is very close to his regular season data. 35 points + 30 points + 29 points, why can the Timberwolves easily limit Morant, but the Warriors can't?
There is a reason why Morant scored 35 points in the playoffs, because in the final 1 card game of the regular season, Morant faced the Warriors with 6 of 6 three points, so the Warriors adopted a strategy of anti-surprise shots in the playoffs, who thought that Morant was a conservative character, and the playoff shot 5 three-pointers to eat dumplings, so the Warriors were punished, and the Warriors finally lost 5 points in that game.
Last year's Warriors' outside defense configuration was too poor, Damian Lee was still absent, Oubre did not play in the playoff, only Wiggins was left as a reliable defender, and he was not directly against Morant. This year, the Timberwolves have Beverley in the backcourt, notoriously tear-up defensively, which consumes a lot of Morant, even if Edwards changes defenses, there is an advantage in stature.
The Warriors did not defend Morant in the regular season, but not necessarily in the playoffs, because the Warriors' flanking configuration is already very strong, in addition to Wiggins, more Clay, Peyton Jr., Cummingga, both in terms of experience and ability, are much better than last year. So I believe that this year's Warriors can definitely make Morant suffer some hardships.
And Morant's defense is average, against Curry is simply a cash machine performance, this season Curry's 3 times against the Grizzlies score is, 36 points, 46 points, 27 points, is simply like no man's land. So this round of the series, even if Morant feels like it again, I am optimistic about the Warriors, because Curry has a greater advantage, and now there are more Poole and Klay, and the outside line is simply unstoppable.