Grizzlies rally late again, advance
MINNEAPOLIS — Findlay Prep product Dillon Brooks and Desmond Bane each scored 23 points as Memphis rallied yet again to eliminate Minnesota, winning 114-106 in Game 6 on Friday.
Brandon Clarke added 17 points and 11 rebounds off the bench for the second-seeded Grizzlies, who withstood another quiet night by star Ja Morant and another double-digit deficit entering the fourth quarter.
Memphis advanced in the playoffs for the first time in seven years, this time to meet third-seeded Golden State. The Grizzlies will host Game 1.
Anthony Edwards had 16 of his 30 points in the first quarter for the seventh-seeded Timberwolves. 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 Memphis already the first NBA team to win multiple games in the same playoff series by erasing a double-digit-point fourth-quarter deficit, the here-we-go-again feeling was palpable in the building as Minnesota’s 84-74 lead at the third-quarter break quickly vanished.
Brooks and Bane each hit tying 3-pointers midway through the fourth, and Brooks fouled out 26 seconds after his evened the score at 97.
Bane then swished another from deep with 3:03 to go 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 Memphis this season, consistently was a step and a jump behind on the glass.
Tyus Jones missed two 3-pointers from the wing on the same possession, but the Grizzlies rebounded both — and Morant used the second 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 Minnesota within one, Jones — a former Timberwolves player and Minnesota native — answered with a 3-pointer to bump the lead to two possessions with 1:09 left.