Ja Morant Put The Grizzlies On His Back And May Have Just Saved Their Season While Carrying Memphis To A

Gut reactions from the Memphis Grizzlies' 111-109 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game v of their first-round playoffs series on Tuesday night at the FedExForum.

Ja Morant to the rescue

Brandon Clarke hugged him first, wrapping his arms not wanting to let go. Around them, an entire squad and an entire arena waited their turn to do the aforementioned.

Ja Morant had sauntered over to the announcer's table, slowly at first every bit the terminal heave of the Timberwolves fell harmlessly to the court. He had rescued the Grizzlies, brought them back from the brink, with a operation that will live on in franchise lore.

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'JA BREAKER':Spotter Ja Morant hammer home a thunderous dunk over Malik Beasley in Game 5

He had xviii of his thirty points in the fourth quarter. He had the 3-pointer that finally gave them the lead dorsum. He had the final thirteen points the Grizzlies scored.

He had the douse that changed the entire vibe in the building. The douse that will eventually be turned into a poster hanging in bedrooms all around Memphis. The dunk that turned the groans of a another disjointed performance into the pure bedlam of the postseason in Memphis

"We called 12," Jaren Jackson Jr. "He got it done. Everybody knows who got it done."

Morant rescued Memphis in Game 5, giving the Grizzlies a 3-2 series lead by seizing victory from the jaws of defeat.

This team once once more, for long stretches, bore little resemblance to the boisterous grouping full of joy that rampaged through this regular season like few expected. Morant, in particular, seemed non himself, his forays into the lane replaced past tentativeness.

Only he transformed in the final 12 minutes, calling upon something only the greats can in the pivotal games that make up one's mind playoff series. Slowly at first, and then almost like a deluge, Minnesota's double-digit lead evaporated as Morant'due south fable grew.

There's no other way to explain how Memphis is heading to Minnesota for Game 6 Friday with a chance to motility past this grueling first-round series.

Jaren Jackson Jr. has soul searching to do

This was a adventure at redemption for Jaren Jackson Jr. after foul trouble and his own ineffectiveness loomed and so large over the first four games of this series. He appeared ready to evangelize on that promise, besides.

Jackson ignited the Grizzlies initially and then the game turned simply as fast because of him. He hit his first 3-pointer and scored on an ambitious put-back every bit part of a 13-2 offset for Memphis. But he picked up 2 early on fouls, and each were of the bonehead diverseness.

The second one, in which he fouled Minnesota’s Patrick Beverley as he hit a 3-pointer, forced Memphis double-decker Taylor Jenkins to pull him from the flooring less than four minutes in.

It was no coincidence the Timberwolves rallied from in that location. The Grizzlies’ defense force wilted without Jackson, every bit has been the case all series.

The second half featured some other crucial turn of events. As Memphis pushed to take the lead back in the opening four minutes of the third quarter, Jackson seemed to draw a quaternary foul on Karl-Anthony Towns past taking a charge. A replay review, however, reversed the phone call to a block, which gave Jackson four fouls.

Jackson then picked upwardly his fifth and 6th fouls in the opening 5:02 of the quaternary quarter, finishing his evening as it started -- with a careless foul on a 3-point attempt. This fourth dimension information technology was guarding Towns, and it relegated an exasperated Jackson to the bench during the Grizzlies' dramatic comeback.

The ferocious rebounding of Clarke, a modest-ball lineup featuring Dillon Brooks defending Towns, and the exploits of Morant allowed Jackson a reprieve from the intense scrutiny of another disappointing showing. Another opportunity to reverse this troubling playoff trend of his awaits in a close out game Friday.

The details affair

The Grizzlies, by and big, went against the modern template for success in the NBA this season, doing more of their damage in the pigment than any team, despite the league-wide tendency tilted toward three-point shooting.

The concern, of course, was whether that would work in the playoffs, when half-courtroom offense would exist at a premium and defenses would pack the paint. The returns through six games confronting Minnesota suggest it’s a flaw Memphis should accept addressed at the merchandise deadline and must address moving frontward, regardless of how the rest of this series plays out.

The 3-signal shooting disparity betwixt these ii teams was never more evident than Game v. Memphis was horrendous from the across arc, while Minnesota once once more torched the Grizzlies in fundamental moments. The Timberwolves hit vii 3-pointers in the kickoff quarter, using them to erase an early 13-two Memphis lead.

The Grizzlies, meanwhile, were a paltry vii for 28 from the three-point line, and many misses were of the wide open diversity. Brooks was a shocking one for x from 3-point range

Their gratis throw shooting was an even bigger outcome, though. Afterwards Jenkins blasted the officiating in Game 4, Memphis appeared to become a mostly favorable whistle Tuesday. Only it turned that into a negative by going simply 26 of 39from the line.

Same goes for the turnover battle. Minnesota committed 23 giveaways (and Memphis scored 23 points off them), merely the Grizzlies' own abandon with the ball (16 turnovers) partially offset what was a force during the regular season.

These details are magnified in a postseason setting and they momentarily stunted the Grizzlies' push whenever they did manage to pick up any momentum. Only they flipped when it mattered about. Morant and Brooks each hit their only 3-arrow of the game in the final minutes. Morant knocked down all his free throws every bit well. Clarke gave Memphis extra possession after extra possession in crunch time, an invaluable contribution that shouldn't become disregarded in the midst of Morant's heroics.

If the Grizzlies can bottle up that quaternary quarter and take it to Minneapolis, they tin put away these Timberwolves once and for all.

You tin can reach Commercial Appeal columnist Marker Giannotto via email at mgiannotto@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter: @mgiannotto

This commodity originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Ja Morant rescues Memphis Grizzlies from the brink in dramatic Game 5