The distance seemed insurmountable for those from Memphis, who took advantage of the Wolves’ pjara in the last quarter to come back to the rhythm of Ja Morant, Bane and Clarke and make it 2-1 in the series
They lost 26 points in the second quarter and 25 in the third, but the Memphis Grizzlies, in a fascinating survival lesson, took victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday to achieve 2-1 in the series after a game completely crazy (95-104). With a devastating 12-37 run in the fourth quarter, the Grizzlies left the Wolves speechless who had run over them for most of the night but melted in the end.
The numbers of the Wolves in that quarter were to burst into tears: 3 of 19 in shots, 1 of 11 in triples and 5 rebounds for 19 of their rivals. In this way, the Grizzlies regained home court advantage and dealt a serious moral blow to Wolves who will have a lot of work to do in the locker room to digest a very painful defeat.
Desmond Bane (26 points, with 7 triples, and 6 rebounds), Brandon Clarke (20 points and 8 rebounds) and Ja Morant (triple-double of 16 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists) were fundamental in the Grizzlies’ incredible comeback , which put Steven Adams on the bench for his trouble defending Karl-Anthony Towns.
D’Angelo Russell (22 points and 8 assists) and Anthony Edwards (19 points and 7 assists) were the best for a Wolves in which Karl-Anthony Towns was very unwise (8 points and 5 rebounds).
THE WOLVES OVERRIDE
With an overwhelming physical display, aggressiveness in all games and a voracious appetite for each ball, the Wolves, infected by the great atmosphere in their stadium, silenced the Grizzlies in a great start with a 12-0 run.
Those from Memphis, stunned and unable to react, took more than three minutes to get their first points. The abysmal difference in energy and intensity between the two teams was best exemplified by Beverley, tireless in defensive effort. Thus, the statistics of the first quarter (39-21) were resounding.
The Wolves scored 18 points in the paint, made 13 of 24 shots, dominated the rebound (16-9), D’Angelo Russell had 12 points and the Grizzlies were left with a dismal 29.2% shooting from the field. If the Grizzlies expected a truce in the second quarter, they got a good slap in the face with an 8-0 that made the biggest difference on the scoreboard (47-21 with 10.28 for halftime).
Perhaps the biggest sin of these young Wolves is their lack of consistency and tonight they made the same mistake again. With an inexcusable poor end to the second quarter (0-15 after three triples by Bane), the Wolves went to the locker room with a minimal difference (51-44) for what had been the first half and the Grizzlies confirmed, despite two very poor rooms, which had the meeting within reach.
In any case, the visitors’ options were to recover a disappeared Ja Morant as soon as possible (5 points with 2 of 7 shots).
IMPRESSIVE COMEBACK
In a carbon copy of the start of the game, another terrific start by the Wolves left the Grizzlies shivering. With a 17-4 run in six minutes, the Minnesotans once again boasted great defensive pressure (4 losses from the Grizzlies in that stretch) and had Russell and Edwards at the head of the stampede.
The Grizzlies’ good ending to the second quarter seemed to have been a mirage as the Wolves went up to +25 in the third quarter. In any case, the Grizzlies, with little signs of inspiration from Morant, came to the end with a thread of life (83-67).
Amazingly, the Memphis guys made the most of those green shoots. With a tremendous 16-0 start, which inexplicably the Wolves did not cut with a timeout, the Grizzlies equalized the duel, finally exhibiting their offensive power with Bane and Morant.
Again showing signs of innocence and lack of skill to preserve a huge lead, the Wolves saw Towns go to the bench with his fifth foul and Jones give the Grizzlies their first lead of the match (85-86 with 7.09 for the end).
Totally overwhelmed and lost on the court, the Wolves lowered their heads against some euphoric Grizzlies and in which Clarke was instrumental in signing an impressive comeback.
