Grizzlies vs Thunder: The grudge dialogue between freshmen?

With the Grizzlies being eliminated in the first round, the team recently held a season summary interview. The team's young master Morant specifically mentioned that if he is not injured, this series will have a chance to come 2-2.

Although Morant was constantly questioned by the outside world for various confident remarks in the past, what he said was not completely empty talk. If no injuries occurred, this series should indeed be a more exciting matchup.

In the first two games of this round of series, the Thunder completely suppressed the Grizzlies. With a 51-point victory in the first game, the Thunder set the largest difference in the first game of the playoffs. In the second game, the Thunder won another 19 points, and the two games had a net victory over their opponents by 70 points, which is also a new record since 1986. Under the huge score difference, it seems that the strength gap between the two sides is also announced.

For the Grizzlies, what they lack most is naturally the offensive part. The sluggish three-point firepower cannot punish the Thunder's peripheral defense line, and the inside line is Zach Eddie who is directly guarded by Hartten. Under multiple people, the team's offensive area is quite crowded, and the difficulty of pick-and-roll singles for Morant and Jaren Jr. is greatly increased.

The two major offensive core points are difficult to output and score stably. Aldama and Kennard who are in the position are also affected by the team's new system and have lost the role of supporting the team.

The Grizzlies only averaged 89.5 points in the first two games. While they were unable to score, they also made frequent mistakes, which were transformed into a large number of defensive counterattacks by their opponents. Driven by multiple offensive points, it also made it difficult for the Grizzlies to make reasonable defensive arrangements.

Alexander is in poor form, with a total of only 14 of 42 shots in the first two games, and his shooting percentage is only 30%, the Grizzlies still cannot prevent the multi-point blooming under the Thunder's pass and cut system. Aldama's poor defensive attitude has been repeatedly used by the Thunder. Zach Eddie's influence on the frame protection was completely restrained by Harten's high-level support and near-frame throws. In addition, the season reimbursement of soon-to-play players such as Jaylen Wells and Brandon Clark, Marvin Bagley was only a flash in the pan in the first game. The Grizzlies' limitations on the defensive end are far greater than we imagined.

Just as everyone thought the Grizzlies were unable to make up the situation and the series had already decided, after returning to Memphis home court, the Grizzlies team appeared in front of the fans in a completely new way.

Starting from the third game, the Grizzlies began to respond to the Thunder's team defense. Through Pippen's three-point firepower from the outside, they restrained the opponent's front-line defense, and Jialun's offensive score in the penalty area can also suppress the second-line defense defense.

Although the Thunder can still tighten the offensive area significantly, for Morant, who often had to take multiple attacks in the first two games, being able to create an opportunity to challenge the defender alone is enough to support him in driving the team's offensive system.

No matter Doult, Caruso, Jewe and others, they were unable to cause obvious interference to Morant's end in the air. In the first half, Morant sent 15 points, 5 assists and 0 mistakes. The Grizzlies once led the Thunder by as much as 29 points. Compared with the situation in the first two games, the situation was completely opposite. Unfortunately, neither side expected the accident, and the Grizzlies were still in desperate situation again.

In the second half after losing Morant, the Grizzlies' offensive end turned a big turn, and the smooth offensive mode in the first half suddenly dropped. It was difficult for the Grizzlies to create an offensive advantage around Bain, who was as talented as static. Facing the Thunder's full-game oppression, it was difficult for the Grizzlies to even dribble through the half. Before Morant retired in the first half, the Grizzlies had only one mistake, and at the end of the game, the team's mistakes reached 16 times.

Jeren Jeren, who lost the opportunity to catch the ball in the inside, often encounters interference from Caruso when holding the ball at a high position. The Thunder can also devote more defensive resources to Jauso. Caruso interferes with the whole process on the front line. Later, two defenders were arranged to tighten the offensive route. The Grizzlies, who scored 77 points in the first half, only scored 31 points in the second half, and finally allowed the Thunder to complete a 29-point reversal.

After a day of adjustment, the Grizzlies were still able to seize the occasional rotation loopholes on the Thunder's periphery in the fourth game, and Aldama began to show a three-point advantage, but the team's lack of a ball-holding scoring point is ultimately a fatal problem.

Bain's performance in the third and fourth games was quite sluggish, with only 29% shooting percentage and even more turnover data than assist data. The Grizzlies also made 21 mistakes again in the game. Even though the tactical execution of the entire team players was significantly improved, it still could not make up for Morant's lack.

But the Grizzlies only lost by 2 points in the fourth game, mainly due to the effective adjustment on the defensive end. The breakout around the free throw line was launched to start the offense, putting pressure on the defenders on both sides, making Alexander and Jewe mistakenly think that there is a chance to pass and cut, and made mistakes after successfully ambushing many times.

Even Zach Eddie, he worked hard to perform defensive rotation and supplement defense, and interfered with the opponent's excellent defense of three-point opens many times. At such intensity, it was no accident that the Thunder only handed in 20% of the three-point shooting percentage, which just limited the opponent's offensive system.

In addition, Zach Eddie's influence in the home recovery also helped the Grizzlies' strength well, consolidating the rebound advantage to promote more defensive counterattacks, and even dragged the Thunder's offensive rhythm into the mode he was used to, complementing the Grizzlies' team's defense. The weakness of defenders' pick-and-roll and center backwards was significantly alleviated.

Although this link provides Alexander with many mid-range mobile phone opportunities, the Grizzlies' slightly chaotic defense line has also caused Alexander to make misjudgments on the game many times. This kind of active defense is exactly the best choice the Grizzlies need..

Of course, the team lacks key defensive points, the shortcomings of the second-tier figure, and the problem of the center being unable to switch defenses are still quite obvious to the Grizzlies, which is also a direct reason why they are still unable to stabilize at the critical moments of the two games after the series. In terms of lineup integrity, stability and offense and defense variability, the Thunder has always had obvious advantages.

And the more you go back in this series, the value of these factors gradually becomes prominent, and when the Thunder plays these advantages, the probability of their winning series is quite high.

However, when the Grizzlies can provide effective countermeasures on both offense and defense, the Thunder cannot find an answer immediately in the fourth game. The Grizzlies do have the chance to equalize the situation into a 2-2 draw, especially the declining defeat in the last two games is due to the limitations of the offensive end, and the one who can save the team's situation happens to be Morant, who can only sigh on the bench.

No matter how you discuss it, the reality of the series ended with the Grizzlies being swept out 4-0, and the Grizzlies should not stay at the established fact. In fact, it is their top priority to strive to seek opportunities for improvement in the offseason.

As for most of Morant's strong remarks, is there a reason or a last word? Regardless of whether the Grizzlies can have a chance to revenge in the future, or whether the Thunder can dominate the league, the two youth armies have added a lot of wonderful colors to the future matchup of the two teams after this group of matches.