LOS ANGELES, United States —
Desmond Bane scored 23 points as the Memphis
Grizzlies stunned the Minnesota Timberwolves with another late fourth-quarter
rally to score a series-clinching 114–106 victory in the NBA playoffs on
Friday.
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Bane made nine of
15 shots from the field including a crucial go-ahead three-pointer late in the
fourth quarter as the second seeds completed a 4–2 series win to silence
Minnesota’s Target Center crowd in Minneapolis.
It was another
shattering loss for
Minnesota, who for the third time in the series was unable
to close out a victory after building a double-digit lead in the fourth
quarter.
Minnesota had
pulled into an 84–74 lead at the end of the third quarter but were blown away
down the stretch by the
Grizzlies, who outscored the Timberwolves 40–22 in the
final period to snatch a dramatic win.
Bane nailed a
three-pointer to give Memphis their first lead of the second half while Jaren
Jackson Jr. added 12 points in the fourth to help the Grizzlies get over the
line.
Memphis star
Ja Morant had been effectively bottled up by the Minnesota defense in the first
half with just four points, but ultimately finished with 17 points, 11 assists,
and eight rebounds.
The Grizzlies now
face a mouthwatering Western Conference semi-final series against the resurgent
Golden State Warriors starting on Sunday.
“It’s big-time for
us man, super excited,” Morant said afterwards.
“We got it done. It was ugly but we battled through,
battled back and got the win. We got the four wins, but we’ve got to be better
in the next round — we can’t come out again like we did in this series.”
Morant said the
Grizzlies’ ability to overturn a hefty fourth-quarter deficit once again was
testimony to the resilience of his team.
“We’ve got a lot of
dogs on this team, guys who want to prove stuff, and have got a chip on their
shoulder,” Morant said.
“We’ve got that
never-satisfied mindset and we know that the game’s not over until the clock is
showing all zeroes at the end of the fourth.”
“We just stick
together, battle back and we were able to come out with some big-time wins.”
“We’ll enjoy this
moment in the locker room tonight and then we’ll flip the page and start
getting ready for Golden State.”
Bane said the
latest in a series of Memphis Houdini acts was too close for comfort.
“I don’t want to be
in that hole, I promise you,” Bane said. “We don’t mind it but we’d like to
start games a little bit better.
“Our resiliency really showed in this series. I
think pretty much every game we won we were trailing at some point. It’s a
gritty group.”
Bane’s 23-point
haul was matched by 23 from Dillon Brooks, while Jackson Jr. finished with 18.
Morant and Brandon
Clarke finished with 17 points apiece, Tyus Jones chipping in with 10 points
off the bench.
Anthony Edwards led
the Minnesota scorers with 30 points while Karl-Anthony Towns had 18 with 10
rebounds and four assists.
Jaden McDaniels added 24 off the bench.
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