Thunder vs Grizzlies G3 Preview: Alexander 3-0 Morant is difficult to win at home?

At 9:30 a.m. Beijing time on April 25, the Thunder played away against the Grizzlies and ushered in the third game of the series. The current overall score is 2-0 for the Thunder, and they have a huge advantage. said that the Thunder had a huge advantage, mainly because there was no suspense in the two games, and the Thunder won by 51 and 19 points respectively.

It is worth mentioning that in these two games, the Thunder's number one star Alexander did not perform well, and his team could still win easily. In the first game, Alexander scored 51 points, 4-of-13, a season-low 15 points. In the G2 game, although Alexander scored 27 points, he only hit 10 of 29 shots, and 3 of 10 three-pointers.

"I feel like I'm getting the shots that I would normally shoot and just don't shoot and that's part of the game of basketball," Alexander said, "because my team was so good that we won two games by a big margin." They have supported me for the past two nights. ”

In Game 1, Aaron Wiggins scored 21 points, Jalen Williams contributed 20 points, and Holmgren had 19 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks. In Game 2, Jalen Williams scored 24 points and Holmgren had 20 points, 11 rebounds and 5 blocks.

The Thunder dominated the series with their trademark choke defense. In the opening game, the Thunder limited the Grizzlies to 34 percent shooting and forced 24 turnovers. The second game was the same. The Thunder allowed the Grizzlies to score just 17 points in the first quarter and missed all of their opponents' first 10 shots.

It was with this kind of defense, coupled with the scramble for offensive rebounds, that the Thunder withstood the Grizzlies' strong comeback in the third quarter. In Game 2, the Thunder grabbed 16 offensive rebounds.

"Our defense was always on the line," Thunder head coach Daigneault said, "and even though we didn't shoot well in the first half and didn't have many easy scoring opportunities, we still managed to make a number of successful defenses. We persevered in the third quarter and tried to fight for that tough section. We created scoring chances in the second half of the third quarter and won the game. ”

Grizzlies interim head coach Isalo saw his team improve in Game 2, but it wasn't enough to beat the top-seeded Thunder. In Game 2, the Grizzlies never took the lead.

"Not much changed between the two games," Isalo said, "and they controlled the offensive rebounds and forced us to make a lot of turnovers, which meant it was hard for us to play a fluid offense. They caused us to make mistakes on the ball and that tends to cost the opposition a lot of points. ”

One encouraging sign for the Grizzlies is that forward Jaren Jackson Jr. has picked up his form. In Game 2, he scored 26 points on 10-of-17 shooting. And in the first game, Jackson made just 2 of 13 shots and scored just 4 points.

"I feel like I'm just getting more aggressive," Jackson said, "and I read the defense differently than I did in the first game." I'm not going to let myself get caught up in the opponent or the threesome. ”

Grizzlies star guard Morant backed up Jackson's performance with 23 points and helped the Grizzlies close their 18-point deficit to single digits at halftime in the third quarter. "I felt like we were more fluid offensively in the third quarter and moved the ball a little more," Morant said of his performance in the third quarter. The teammates all shot with rhythm and started to shoot. ”

Will the Grizzlies win a game when they return home? For Alexander, he will also be looking to play better and try to make it 3-0 on aggregate.

List of injuries and illnesses

Thunder: Dieng and Topic are out

Grizzlies: Clarke, Wells are out

ESPN predicts the win rate: Thunder 69.5%, Grizzlies 30.5%