There was plenty of optimism for Timberwolves fans going into game two vs Memphis.
And why not? Minnesota was clearly the better team in game one.
Anthony Edwards was the best player on the court, Karl-Anthony Towns found a favorable matchup against Grizzlies big man Steven Adams & Minnesota got 23 points off the bench from Malik Beasley.
The big question was what adjustments Memphis would make coming into game two.
The Wolves found their answer out the hard way as Ja Morant led all scorers with 23 points in leading Memphis to a 124-96 win. More importantly, the Grizzlies had seven players finish in double figures in scoring.
“No one from this Wolves roster showed up at all tonight,” Henry Lake said in his postgame coverage. “I don’t care what the box score says. ANT did not play well tonight, KAT played poorly, D’Angelo, we can’t find with a flashlight. Everybody was way off tonight.
As for the adjustments Memphis made to counter KAT, the Grizzlies found their guy in Xavier Tillman who came off the bench tonight to score seven points and had 13 rebounds
Tillman is going to be the guy who will be defending KAT going forward and that is an adjustment that Chris Finch will have to make going into game three.
The other thing for the Wolves is to get Anthony Edwards going early in the game.
“I didn’t think he played well tonight. Henry said of Edwards. “ANT has these games where he’s not aggressive and he lets the game come to him where he turns it up in the 3rd or 4th quarter. This is not a situation where ANT can allow the game to come to him later on. You have to bring it from the opening tap."
Despite the loss, Wolves fans shouldn’t feel down about what happened in game two. The playoffs is a series of adjustments and Memphis made theirs in game two. The important thing is the Wolves got a split and will come back to Target Center with the series tied 1-1.
A raucous crowd should be waiting for them as it’s Minnesota’s turn to make adjustments as they try to figure out a way to retake the lead in the series.