Memphis takes down Minnesota
MINNEAPOLIS » Desmond Bane and Dillon Brooks each scored 23 points and the Memphis Grizzlies rallied yet again to eliminate the Minnesota Timberwolves, winning 114106 in Game 6 on Friday night.
Brandon Clarke added 17 points and 11 rebounds off the bench for the Grizzlies, who withstood another quiet night by star Ja Morant and another double-digit deficit entering the fourth quarter.
The Grizzlies advanced in the playoffs for the first time in seven years, this time to meet Golden State. They’ll host Game 1 in Memphis.
Anthony Edwards had 16 of his 30 points in the first quarter for Minnesota. Jaden Mcdaniels had 24 points off the bench, and Karl-anthony Towns added 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Morant went 4 for 14 from the field and had 17 points and 11 assists.
With the Grizzlies already the first team in NBA history to win multiple games in the same playoff series by erasing a doubledigit-point fourth-quarter deficit, the herewe-go-again feeling was palpable in the building as an 84-74 lead for the Wolves at the third-quarter break quickly vanished.
Bane and Brooks each hit tying 3-pointers midway through the fourth, and Brooks fouled out just 26 seconds after his evened the score at 97.
Bane then swished another one from deep at 3:03 for a 101-99 lead, the first for the Grizzlies since they were up 39-38.
The kill shot came soon after for a Wolves team that, like so many others against the Grizzlies this season, was consistently a step and a jump behind on the glass.
Tyus Jones missed a pair of 3-pointers from the wing on the same possession, but the Grizzlies rebounded both — and Morant used the second one for a layup and a four-point lead.
After Mcdaniels, who had the game of his two-year career, hit a 3 with 1:34 left to bring the Wolves back within one, Jones — the former Timberwolves player and native of Minnesota — answered with a 3pointer to bump the lead back to two possessions with 1:09 left.
The Grizzlies have had only one lead after the first quarter in this series, 33-32 in Game 2, and Edwards ensured they didn’t get another one. The first overall pick in the 2020 draft with the bravado and the flair for the big moments had nine of his team’s first 11 points. He hit a 3-pointer with about a minute left in the period, then blocked Morant’s layup with a few seconds left.
The crowd roared when the game operations crew flashed a graphic in the second quarter with a side-by-side comparison of scoring totals of Edwards and Morant, which was 16-0 at the time.