End of heart attack and And Morant as a saving piece that pulled the Memphis Grizzlies out of another quagmire. those of Taylor Jenkins They beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 111-109 in an agonizing finale to take a 3-2 lead in the tie despite the great second half of Karl-Anthony Towns.
It was an excellent outcome by both teams. With 109-106 for Memphis, Minnesota took out with the aim of seeking overtime, and the play went like a charm: McLaughlin for Towns and he returns to McLaughlin so that the point guard attends Edwards who is unmarked on the 3-pointer thanks to an excellent block from a teammate…and Edwards doesn’t miss. Triple by the young player to make it 109-109 with 3.7 seconds left.
Of course, that great move was of little use given what came later. Because Ja Morant settled the match scoring a fantastic penetrating basket at the last second thanks to an excellent extension and precision of his left arm and hand. And the FedExForum exploded, a FedExForum in which there were, among other spectators, the former Grizzlies Pau Gasol y Zach Randolphthe university technician John Calipari and the NBA commissioner, Adam Silver.
That winning basket by Morant was the culmination of the All-Star to a powerful fourth quarter after signing before three rather gray quarters. Morant had 18 points in the final quarter, 12 minutes in which Memphis rallied 37-24 to win the game.
Morant finished with 30 points, 13 rebounds and 9 assists, forming a very good star trio with Desmond Bane -25 points and 3 blocks- and the substitute Brandon Clarke -21 points and 15 rebounds-.
Memphis thus saved the furniture despite the 3 of 18 in the shot of a horrible Dillon Brooks and of the 6 fouls in 18 minutes of Years Jackson Jr.too likely to lose track game after game because of his many personalities.
Grizzlies dominated the rebounding, with 18 offensive sacks, and benefited from 22 Minnesota turnovers. And then there was the arbitration. Local coach Taylor Jenkins was fined for complaining about refereeing in game four. Well, it seems that his complaints did not fall on deaf ears. In Game 5… 19 fouls called against the Grizzlies and 29 against the Timberwolves, which translated into 39 free throws for Memphis, 15 more than the rival.
Minnesota had Memphis on the ropes. The visitors were leading 88-99 with 6:58 remaining, but a 10-0 run put the Grizzlies on the winning path.
The enormous second half of Karl-Anthony Towns (21 points and 7 rebounds after the break) did not help, he finished with 28 points, 12 rebounds and 5 of 7 in the triple, although he lost 7 balls. Anthony Edwards added 22 points and D’Angelo Russell was limited to 12 points and 8 assists.