Score of Grizzlies vs. Timberwolves takeaway: Memphis advances to face Warriors after another furious comeback

The Memphis Grizzlies are headed to the Western Conference semifinals after a 114-106 Game 6 road victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night. Surprise, surprise: The Grizzlies’ victory once again came in the form of a comeback, erasing a 13-point lead and outscoring the Timberwolves 40-22 in the fourth quarter.

The Grizzlies move on to take on the No. 3-seeded Golden State Warriors, with their second-round series kicking off Sunday in Memphis.

“It was ugly, but we fought back, we fought back, we got the win,” Grizzlies guard Ja Morant said after the game. “But we have to be better in the next round. We can’t come out playing like we did in this series here.”

Morant struggled for most of the night, but still finished with a near triple-double of 17 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds. Dillon Brooks and Desmond Bane led Memphis on the offensive end, combining for 46 points, 10 rebounds and three assists on 10-of-15 3-point shooting to help lead the Grizzlies to victory.

On the other hand, Anthony Edwards continued to show why he is one of the brightest young stars in the league with 30 points, five rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks, but it just wasn’t enough down the stretch. Karl-Anthony Towns managed to stay out of foul trouble but shot just 6-of-19 from the field en route to 18 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.

Here are four takeaways from the game and series, along with a recap of our live updates.

1. Kids back… again

You could feel the nervousness of the Target Center crowd on television as the Grizzlies cut the Wolves’ lead from 10 to four in less than a minute to start the fourth quarter. That’s because Minnesota has seen this before. The Grizzlies erased the Wolves’ double-digit leads in four of the six games in this series, including an epic 26-point comeback in Game 3. It’s hard to pinpoint the exact reason, but the Grizzlies executed at both ends for most of the series once they were left behind.

“Coach preaches it day in and day out. We’ve got a lot of dogs on this team, guys that want to prove things, have chips on our shoulders,” Morant said after the Game 6 win. “We have that mindset of never being satisfied, and we know that the game is not over until the zeroes reach the end of the quarter”

That kind of poise will serve them well in the next-round matchup against the Warriors, who have a penchant for quick, devastating scoring runs to build big leads. Already having a handful of postseason comeback wins under their belt should help keep the Grizzlies confident if they find themselves trailing in double digits again.

2. The Wolves’ Bane of Existence

Morant certainly controlled the offense and took over at times, but the Grizzlies don’t win this series without Bane’s standout performance. He was 5-for-9 from 3-point range on Friday, making him 27-for-56 (48 percent) in the series, and he led the team with 23.5 points per game. He didn’t just make shots, he made GREAT shots. Bane played more than 43 minutes in the Game 6 win and was a plus-22 on the night; no other Memphis player was better than a plus-10.

Bane’s cold-blooded fake 3-pointer with just over three minutes left in the game gave the Grizzlies a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

There was a lot of talk before the postseason about who the Grizzlies’ “second player” would be, and Bane showed in the first round that he’s more than capable of filling that role. Sometimes you could even say that he was the first.

3. Hard night for KAT

While Morant couldn’t find a rhythm for most of the night, he was able to turn it on late with six points and four assists in the fourth quarter. The same cannot be said for the Timberwolves All-Star, however, as Towns scored just three points on 1-for-5 shooting in the final frame. He took only three shots and did not score a point in the final eight minutes of the game.

Perhaps frustrated, Towns took two horrible shots late in the game, including this ill-advised 27-foot 3-pointer early on the clock with just over two minutes left.

Towns had a series of ups and downs with some really bright spots, but he couldn’t come through when his team needed him most on Friday night.

4. McDouble

The Wolves ended up losing, but for much of the night it looked like the duo that would carry them to victory would be bench Jaden McDaniels and Jordan McLaughlin. McDaniels lit up early and finished with a career-high 24 points on 5-of-6 3-point shooting. He went on a personal 7-0 run to help build the Wolves’ lead to nine with just under two minutes left in the third quarter.

Then there was McLaughlin, who finished with nine points, five rebounds and four assists on 4-for-5 shooting, collecting basically all of his stats in the second half. He ran the offense so well that Finch decided to put him back in the game for good, replacing starter D’Angelo Russell with just under five minutes left.

McDaniels is only 21 and McLaughlin is 26, so it looks like the Wolves have a couple of great young players who have proven they can perform on the brightest stage.