As cliché as it is, playoff basketball is all about reading and reacting quickly. It’s about making adjustments between games and during them. It is a cat and mouse game between coaches, trying to gain as much variance where they can as possible to get a series advantage.
That’s precisely what Memphis Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins did in Game 2.
Steven Adams started and picked up two early fouls three minutes into the game, making him make an easy sub.
The Minnesota Timberwolves exploited Adams as a mismatch in Game 1. He was -13 and didn’t even make an impact as a rebounder. Adams was primarily matched up with Karl-Anthony Towns, who cruised his way to 29 points on 11-18 shooting from the field, looking like his normal self.
Towns created a lot off the dribble, using his quick first step on Adams to get around him. It’s something KAT does often, using that triple-threat of being able to shoot, drive, or pass back out to someone else. He uses his jab step effectively to keep Adams on his toes, forcing Adams to protect his back with the quick first step and also respect the three-point shot.
It wasn’t a surprise that Jenkins took Adams out of Game 2 early. The Grizzlies have other more athletic players and can make up for Adams’ shortcomings. His absence led to other athletic bigs – Brandon Clarke, Jaren Jackson Jr, and Xavier Tillman – getting more run together. As a result, Memphis had more offensive rebound and second-chance opportunities.
After filtering out blowout minutes, Memphis would finish +6 on the offensive glass in Game 2. They also outscored the Wolves 17-8 on second-chance points. Jackson and Tillman, specifically, drove this impact. They combined for 7 offensive rebounds and scored 6 of the second-chance points.
It was simply an adjustment worth making, one that would likely benefit throughout the series. Adams will either be a DNP or see limited minutes because Memphis has the depth and personnel to replace him.
So, how do the Wolves adjust to moving back to their home court with the series split?
It starts with making their own adjustments. The Wolves need to tweak the rotation and find the right mix of personnel. The Grizzlies will deploy more switchable defenders and smaller defenders onto Towns. Jenkins typically used Brandon Clarke, Ziaire Williams, or Kyle Anderson on KAT to get the ball passed his direction.
Towns makes the majority of his catches at the top of the key, where he shoots exceptionally at a 46.1% clip, 13.8% better than league average (34.3%). These more athletic matchups press up on KAT, knowing they have Jackson, one of the better help-side rim protectors in the league, behind them. Memphis’ defense makes others have to step their game up, specifically Anthony Edwards and Minnesota’s shooters.
Edwards, 20, has shown an unparalleled ability to get in and around the rim at difficult angles. He needs to continue that in this series. To make things easier on KAT, teams need to be concerned about Ant. When Ant settles for more perimeter shots, he only feeds into the defense.
Dribble penetration makes the defense react, shift, and rotate. Ant can use this ability to get his own buckets or kick out to open shooters, who can hit open looks or swing it to others to find the open man. That is why it’s essential to have multiple shooters on the floor, especially Jaylen Nowell and Taurean Prince.
Nowell deserves another look. He can break down the defense with his natural shot-creator ability and hit an open look. His catch-and-shoot numbers from three are just as good as any other three-point specialist on the roster. These players should be heavily weighed upon to cut open Memphis’s defense.
The good thing for the Wolves is when KAT stays out of foul trouble, it only makes things easier for others to operate. Minnesota’s defense has been solid enough, or as good as it will be with this team. They have shown that they can compete with this Memphis squad, splitting the season and playoff series thus far.
The ball is very much in Chris Finch’s hands to make some adjustments once we return to Minneapolis for Games 3 and 4. It will be his largest test so far in Minnesota.
