On May 4, Beijing time, the Grizzlies and Warriors ushered in the second game of the semifinals, the first game was lost by 1 point, the Grizzlies, who lost their home advantage, are bound to win this second victory, so the two sides played particularly anxious in this key battle, fortunately, in the end, relying on Morant to dominate the game in the last quarter, the Grizzlies were also able to defeat the Warriors 106-101 without any danger, equalizing the total score, so that the two sides returned to the same running line.
Payton Jr. was fouled by Dillon and examined for a fractured left elbow after the game
There was also a small episode in the game, shortly after the first quarter, warriors player Peyton Jr. was fouled by Grizzlies player Dillon Brooks during a layup, and the slow motion of the replay later showed that Dillon had a pulling Action of Payton Jr. and hit Peyton Jr. in the head in the air, so this foul was also blown by the referee as a second-degree foul, Dillon was directly expelled, as for the "victim" Peyton Jr., who was detected as having a fractured left elbow after the game, and will undergo further MRI examination tomorrow. to determine the extent of the injury. And the reason why Morant was able to kill all four sides in this game, cut the team's high 47 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists, dominating the game, is indeed directly related to the injury of Peyton Jr.
Payton Jr. has become the Warriors' best 3D, and if he is injured, no one can match Morant
In this round of semifinals series, In order to limit Morant, the Grizzlies' number one offensive point, Kerr also chose to change the lineup, reassigning Curry to the starting point, and also let Peyton Jr. enter the starting lineup, with a height of 1.91 meters and an arm span of 2.03 meters, although there is not much presence on the offensive end, but on the defensive end, he did fully inherit his father "glove" Gary Payton, the first playoff trip of his career. Payton Jr. averaged 6.1 points, 3 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 0.9 steals per game, shooting 75% of the league's first three-point shooting rate, and his defensive efficiency was 106 of the 31st in the league, which can be said to be an indispensable 3D for the Warriors.
At present, this Warriors can and Morant's backcourt players, it is really rare, Klay is limited by the initial recovery of major injuries, the defensive end has not been able to find the peak level, and the veteran Iguodala has long been heroic twilight, the threat of the defensive end is not as good as before, in the case of Curry, Poole is the defensive black hole, the Warriors have expected That Payton Jr. to limit the opponent's main offensive arrow on the defensive end. And this time with the fracture of Little Payton's elbow, there is a high probability that this round of the series, or even the entire playoffs, will be directly reimbursed, without such a defensive expert, the Warriors may not be able to limit Morant's full firepower.
A stat comparable to Bryant James, Morant is full of firepower, and the Grizzlies may be expected to advance to the Western Conference Finals
After scoring a team-high 47 points today, Morant also reached a milestone, becoming the first player after James and Kobe Bryant to score multiple 45+ in the playoffs before the age of 23, and I believe that in the case of a high probability of injury after Payton Jr., Morant is likely to continue to play such a stunning scoring data list. The recovery of these two semi-finals also allowed Morant to raise his playoff stats to 26.3 points, 8.6 rebounds and 10.1 assists, if the Warriors can't limit his offensive firepower in the next game and continue to let him dominate the game in the final quarter like today, then the balance of this series is estimated to be really tilted towards the Grizzlies.