Insider Insights: The Grizzlies Fall to 1-9 at Home as they lose to Minnesota Again

The Grizzlies were winners of three of four coming into this matchup but were severely overpowered in the 2nd half by the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Grizzlies started the game on a 14-10 run on 60% shooting with both Desmond Bane and David Roddy leading the way with five points each. However, the Timberwolves surged back to lead by as many as nine points before back-to-back threes from Santi Aldama and Jaren Jackson Jr. followed by a steal and free throw by Vince Williams Jr. cut the Grizzlies deficit to 33-31 to end the first quarter.

The second quarter became a foul fest as both teams combined for 11 team fouls before the slow pace picked up in the final three minutes of the quarter ending with the Timberwolves leading 60-55 at the half. The Grizzlies had three players score in double figures at the half with Jaren Jackson Jr. and David Roddy scoring 11 points each and Desmond Bane scoring 10 points in the first half.

The Timberwolves offense looked nearly unstoppable to begin the third quarter as they hit eight of their first 10 shots to extend their lead to 82-66 close to halfway through the quarter. Their run continued as they extended their lead to 88-68 as they continued to dominate the boards and take advantage of the Grizzlies drop coverage defense. The Grizzlies responded with a 5-0 run, but Minnesota quickly called a timeout and proceeded to extend their lead to as many as 23 points. They entered the fourth quarter leading 98-79.

The Grizzlies couldn’t close the gap any closer than 16 points the remainder of the game as the Timberwolves defeated them for the 2nd time in less than two weeks in the FedExForum 127-103. Rudy Gobert led the Wolves with 20 rebounds, including 9 offensive rebounds that helped lead to 23 2nd chance points. Memphis simply had no answer for Minnesota’s bigs.

Now for my main takeaway:

Desmond Bane’s December Run Halted

This game marked the 2nd matchup between the Grizzlies and Timberwolves, which meant it was the 2nd time that two of the NBA’s best guards faced each other in Desmond Bane and Anthony Edwards. Edwards got the best of Bane in their first matchup in the FedExForum last Sunday with the Timberwolves winning 119-97. Edwards finished that game with 24 points on 57% shooting, six assists, and five rebounds versus Desmond Bane finishing with 13 points on 31% shooting and four assists with five turnovers.

However, Edwards left this game early in the first quarter with a Right Hip Pointer injury and didn’t return so Bane was presented with a prime opportunity to continue his excellent play. Bane entered this contest coming off a career-high 49 points in a win against the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday and was averaging 35.3 points in the Grizzlies’ three December games.

Needless to say, this game began a lot differently than the last outing against the Timberwolves for both Bane and the Grizzlies. He hit two of his first three shots to score five points in the first quarter to help the Grizzlies keep pace with the Wolves as they only trailed 33-31 to end the first quarter. Bane did struggle for most of the second quarter, but he made his final two baskets to help the Grizzlies stay within two possessions at the half.

Bane carried that end-of-the-first-half momentum into the third quarter as he hit back-to-back threes to try to keep the Grizzlies within striking distance. However, that would be his final made shots as he couldn’t do enough to help offset the Timberwolves’ hot shooting and rebounding dominance in the second half.

Desmond Bane had a so-so outing as he shot a 6-13 overall and 4-6 from three but Minnesota played great team defense to limit his attempts and ability to be a playmaker as he finished with only one assist. Even without Anthony Edwards besides the first four minutes of the game, the Grizzlies and Bane just didn’t have enough firepower to score enough to keep up with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Start/Stop/Continue

CONTINUE finding ways to keep Jaren Jackson Jr. active and engaged early and often on the offensive end. His scoring lately has been what the team has been hoping to see from him more often and it helps when he and the team commit to getting him going early. The Grizzlies’ last three games have been a crash course in learning what they need from Jaren going forward. This matchup didn’t yield the wanted final results, largely due to foul trouble, but the formula has been set and is important for the team to continue to turn this season around. Jaren’s final stat line in the scoring column was solid as he scored 21 points on 7-14 shooting marking his third straight 20-point scoring game.

Coming Up

The Grizzlies will look to rebound from this blowout as they remain home against the Dallas Mavericks on Monday, December 11th, at 7:00 PM CST.

Final Quote

“We’ve got to be extremely better, they’ve come in and punked us two games in a row now” – Taylor Jenkins