MEMPHIS, Tenn. – It was back to work for the Grizzlies on Monday, out to bounce back from that disappointing performance in game one of their playoff opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
And if you expected to see the Grizz down in the dumps and worried about their predicament, one game into a seven game series, you don’t know these Beale Street Bears very well.
No excuses. They know they didn’t play well and have a lot to fix but you know what else they have a lot of?
Confidence.
That’s what led them to 56 wins and the two seed during the regular season.
It’s what will lead them in game two and for the rest of this season.
The rest of this postseason… however long it lasts.
“Why be mad after one game. It’s the playoffs. Seven game series. You can lose one, win four straight. You can lose, win four straight. No point in putting a lot of pressure on one game, especially the first game,” said Grizzlies guard Ja Morant. “Just go in, locking in. Correcting your mistakes from last game. Try to get a win for the next one.”
“We didn’t play to the best of our abilities. We had to own it. Guys take that stuff to heart,” said Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins. “Credit to these guys. We’re able to bounce back and show our resiliency and play better. It’s because we’re not satisfied.”
“It’s still our first little go around. It’s not like we’re some dynasty team that’s been in the Finals the past 20 years. This is still kind of a new territory for us,” said Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. “We still have a chip on our shoulder. We want to prove something. We still have that hunger, man. For real.”
While the Grizzlies look to bounce back, the T’Wolves smell blood in the water.
The goal for any road team in a best of seven series is to win one on the road and steal away homecourt advantage.
Minnesota did that on Saturday.
Now, they’re getting greedy.
They want both games in Memphis before heading home.
“We’ve won 11 out of 16 quarters, coming into that game. We feel like we’re a great team, better team. It says upset but we think we did our job,” said T’Wolves guard Malik Beasley. “Our confidence is pretty high. We believe we can do some great things. Some unexpected things. That ya’ll think can’t happen but we believe in. Definitely get greedy. We’re going to try to get both of them. Come out of here with two wins, that way we don’t have to come back here.”
Game two between the T’Wolves and Grizzlies tips off Tuesday night at 7:30, back at FedExForum.
