On April 22, Beijing time, the Minnesota Timberwolves sat at home to meet the Memphis Grizzlies, and the two teams began the first round of the series G3 victory and defeat competition. In the first two games, the Grizzlies and Timberwolves each won and lost, and the battlefield was drawn 1-1. The Grizzlies are looking forward to stealing a win back on the road, while the Timberwolves want to defend the home court and beat their opponents with a single blow.
Therefore, this game is very crucial for both sides. In particular, both teams are new forces with young players as the core of the team, and the experience of winning the game is very valuable to them.
Although the Grizzlies are second in the West in the regular season, they don't dare to be careless in the face of the Timberwolves' absolute talent. Sure enough, at the beginning of the game, the veteran Beverley began to use his personal experience to repeatedly attack Morant, starting with a fantastic 12-0 start.
Moreover, in the second quarter of the game, Beverley also staged a witty maneuver against Morant: faced with the moment of losing his center of gravity but not finding his teammates to play, he threw the ball at the rebound, then put the ball into the basket, and then the score of the two teams was rewritten to 49-28!
This breathtaking scene stunned the fans, and even James, who missed the playoffs, was impressed by Beverley. He expressed his praise for Beverley on social media, "The Bulldog is on a big show! lock! ”
In fact, Beverly singled Morant with his back in the first quarter, and when he scored on a layup after shaking off, he laughed at Morant with a "too small" gesture. However, what he did not expect was that these behaviors of his eventually became the joke of "villain gaining power". The Timberwolves were overturned by the Grizzlies with a 20+ lead on two occasions, with a maximum of 26 points, to lose their home start 95-104!
In this series, both teams have a lot of talented players. The Grizzlies have Morant and Jalen Jackson Jr., while the Timberwolves have Edwards, Towns and Russell. However, both teams have very little playoff experience, especially the Timberwolves, Edwards is playing in the playoffs for the first time, and Towns is only the second time in his career.
Possessing top talent, the Timberwolves are adept at offense. Soon they scored 32 points in the first quarter. However, the Grizzlies climaxed in the second quarter under Bain and quickly caught up with a huge gap of 26 points, with the Timberwolves' lead of only 7 points left.
Back in the second half, the Timberwolves regained their momentum and blossomed in an offensive 17-4 run, again widening the point difference to more than 20 points. When the victory was in hand, the core of the team, Towns, took refuge on the bench with 5 fouls on his back.
However, at this juncture, the Grizzlies Dillon and Bane got the opportunity to break into the inside line, and star Morant was also activated at this moment, and the Grizzlies played a wave of 21-0 equalization and gradually occupied the victory fortress, reversing the Timberwolves on the road to win.
The series is highly watched and the players are talented, but the price that players and teams pay for their lack of playoff experience is also enormous.
Throughout the game, the Timberwolves committed 28 fouls, including Five fouls by Towns, Vanderbilt and Reid, Four by Beverley and three each by Edwards and Russell.
The Grizzlies also have a lot of fouls, With Jaren Jackson Jr. 5, Morant 4, Brooks and Anderson 3 each, and the team has accumulated 20 fouls!
Regardless of who of the two teams advances to the second round, against the warriors and Nuggets winners, they may face a loss due to the lack of experience brought by their youth.
Commentator Ke Fan lamented during the live broadcast that the Timberwolves team's fouls and mistakes in the second half can produce a book. They'll tell you how a team got flipped when it was 26 points ahead, and it wasn't playing well with the Grizzlies!