Minnesota Timberwolves – Memphis Grizzlies · NBA

Win probability changed during the game. · 26 April 2022

MIN109–111MEM

Is it worth watching?

Highly recommended

It was more exciting than 96% of NBA games since 2017

· It was still open in the final minutes

It measures how much the win probability moved during the game —without looking at who won or at the score— and compares it with the 10,950 NBA games with a curve since 2017. “Highly recommended” is the most intense 20%, “recommended” runs from 50% to 80%, and “skippable” is the rest. Source: ESPN.

↑ MEM winsMIN wins ↓

Home team's win probability across the game (source: ESPN). The band rises when MEM leads and falls when MIN does.

This is how the game was decided.

Ja Morant decided it, the Memphis Grizzlies player with the most points (30, with 13 rebounds and 9 assists; +6 with him on the floor); the winner's best plus-minus was Tyus Jones's (+12). The criterion: the winner's points in the box score; plus-minus says who was on the floor when the game opened up.

The game-winner in Memphis Grizzlies 111-109 Minnesota Timberwolves (April 26, 2022) was hit by Ja Morant: a layup with 1.0 s left in the fourth quarter, putting the Memphis Grizzlies up 111-109. They never trailed again.

The biggest run of Memphis Grizzlies 111-109 Minnesota Timberwolves (April 26, 2022) was a 10-0 run by the Memphis Grizzlies in the fourth quarter (from 6:42 to 4:39), from 88-99 to 98-99. The Minnesota Timberwolves' best was a 9-0 run in the first quarter (from 8:14 to 6:57), from 2-13 to 11-13.

▸See where these figures come from

Play: Ja Morant makes 2-foot two point shot (Dillon Brooks assists).

I count as the game-winner the basket that puts the winning team ahead for good. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

A run here is consecutive points by one team without the opponent scoring. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

Source: the game's official box score and play-by-play.

Ja Morant decided this game: his points put his team ahead with one second left in the fourth quarter, and the opponent never led again.

It is one of the 7 games he has decided this way in the NBA since the 2002-03 season.

His profile shows the games Morant decided

▸See where these figures come from

A game is decided by the last basket that puts a team ahead in the final ten seconds of the fourth quarter or of an overtime, if that team wins.

26 April 2022 · The source is the ESPN play-by-play, play espn:401430231:765; the date is the one on the NBA box score.

Rotations · who was on the floor

Closing lineup · MIN

Towns · Edwards · Vanderbilt · McDaniels · McLaughlin

Closing lineup · MEM

Morant · Bane · Brooks · Anderson · Jones

Q1Q2Q3Q4

MIN

D'Angelo Russell

39′ · -5

Karl-Anthony Towns

35′ · -3

Anthony Edwards

35′ · -2

Patrick Beverley

28′ · +1

Jarred Vanderbilt

22′ · -10

Jaden McDaniels

18′ · +11

Malik Beasley

14′ · -1

Naz Reid

13′ · +1

Jordan McLaughlin

17′ · 0

Taurean Prince

19′ · -6

MEM

Ja Morant

45′ · +6

Desmond Bane

45′ · +3

Dillon Brooks

36′ · +8

Jaren Jackson Jr.

18′ · -2

Xavier Tillman

16′ · -6

Brandon Clarke

37′ · 0

Kyle Anderson

18′ · -6

Ziaire Williams

4′ · 0

Tyus Jones

20′ · +12

John Konchar

3′ · -5

Each bar is a stint on the floor (source: NBA). The number is minutes played and the team's +/− with him on the court. MIN and MEM.

These lineups played the most minutes together.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Russell, Towns, Vanderbilt, Edwards, and Beverley played 14.8 minutes together.
Russell, Towns, Edwards, McDaniels, and Beverley played 7.1 minutes together.
Beasley, Prince, McLaughlin, Reid, and Beverley played 4.8 minutes together.

The plus-minus of each Minnesota Timberwolves lineup is not shown: its rotation stints do not add up with each other.

Memphis Grizzlies

Brooks, Jackson, Morant, Tillman, and Bane played 8.3 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.
Jones, Brooks, Morant, Clarke, and Bane played 6.9 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 14 points.
Brooks, Morant, Clarke, Bane, and Anderson played 6.9 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 8 points.

▸See every lineup of the game

Minnesota Timberwolves

Russell, Towns, Prince, Vanderbilt, and McLaughlin played 3.8 minutes together.
Russell, Prince, McLaughlin, Reid, and Edwards played 2.2 minutes together.
Russell, Towns, McLaughlin, Edwards, and McDaniels played 2.0 minutes together.
Russell, Beasley, Reid, Edwards, and McDaniels played 1.9 minutes together.
Beasley, McLaughlin, Reid, Edwards, and McDaniels played 1.6 minutes together.
Russell, Beasley, Prince, Reid, and Edwards played 1.5 minutes together.
Russell, Towns, Prince, Vanderbilt, and Edwards played 1.2 minutes together.
Towns, Beasley, Prince, McLaughlin, and McDaniels played 1.2 minutes together.
Beasley, Prince, McLaughlin, Reid, and McDaniels played 1.2 minutes together.
Russell, Towns, Vanderbilt, Edwards, and McDaniels played 1.1 minutes together.
Russell, Towns, Beasley, Prince, and McDaniels played 1.1 minutes together.
Russell, Towns, Prince, Vanderbilt, and Beverley played 1.0 minutes together.

Memphis Grizzlies

Jones, Morant, Clarke, Bane, and Anderson played 5.1 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.
Brooks, Morant, Clarke, Tillman, and Bane played 4.8 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 6 points.
Brooks, Jackson, Morant, Clarke, and Bane played 4.4 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 4 points.
Brooks, Morant, Clarke, Williams, and Anderson played 3.4 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.
Jones, Jackson, Morant, Clarke, and Bane played 2.4 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.
Jones, Jackson, Clarke, Konchar, and Bane played 2.3 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.
Jones, Morant, Tillman, Bane, and Anderson played 2.0 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 3 points.

▸See where these figures come from

The lineups come from the NBA's official rotation: who was on the floor and when. Each lineup's plus-minus is worked out from every player's stints and is only shown when they all add up with each other and with the final score.

Desmond Bane covered 5.57 km, more than anyone in the game.

Ja Morant touched the ball 103 times, a game high.
D'Angelo Russell made 68 passes, a game high.
Karl-Anthony Towns defended 10 shots at the rim, a game high, and opponents made 7.
Brandon Clarke had 31 rebound chances, a game high.

▸See what was measured for each player

Minnesota Timberwolves

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
D'Angelo Russell	4.51	6.5	87	68
Anthony Edwards	4.10	6.5	46	22
Karl-Anthony Towns	3.94	6.3	69	43
Patrick Beverley	3.39	6.8	63	46
Jarred Vanderbilt	3.06	7.7	39	31
Taurean Prince	2.43	7.1	29	17
Jordan McLaughlin	2.40	7.4	41	37
Jaden McDaniels	2.37	7.3	20	19
Malik Beasley	1.95	7.4	27	17
Naz Reid	1.75	7.3	25	17

Memphis Grizzlies

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Desmond Bane	5.57	6.9	72	46
Ja Morant	5.25	6.5	103	66
Brandon Clarke	4.79	7.2	38	20
Dillon Brooks	4.25	6.6	44	22
Tyus Jones	2.53	6.8	43

The figures come from the NBA's optical tracking (NBA.com) for this game; speed is each player's average while on the floor.

Who stood out on defense during the season

These figures cover the whole 2021-22 regular season, not this game.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Patrick Beverley drew 0.33 charges per game over his 57 games.
He ranks 5 of 386 in the league.
Anthony Edwards recovered 1.1 loose balls per game over his 72 games.
He ranks 5 of 386 in the league.
Jaden McDaniels defended 4.0 shots at the rim per game over his 70 games, and opponents made 12 fewer out of every 100 than usual.
He ranks 4 of 131 in the league.

Memphis Grizzlies

Jaren Jackson Jr. defended 5.1 shots at the rim per game over his 78 games, and opponents made 14 fewer out of every 100 than usual.
He ranks 2 of 131 in the league.
Ja Morant recovered 1.1 loose balls per game over his 57 games.
He ranks 12 of 386 in the league.
Dillon Brooks recovered 0.9 loose balls per game over his 32 games.
He ranks 36 of 386 in the league.

Hustle figures come from the hustle stats the NBA publishes (NBA.com) and rim defense comes from its tracking; both cover the regular season. For each player in this game we show the figure that ranks him highest in the league, and for each team, the three best ranked. Ranks count players with at least 30 games and, at the rim, at least 4 defended shots per game.

The Memphis Grizzlies have won 56 of their 98 games against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

56-42record of the Memphis Grizzlies · NBA 2001-02 – 2025-26, regular season and playoffs

2-2in 2025-26

See the full head-to-head in the Analyst

See where it comes from

Official NBA box scores, regular season and playoffs, 2001-02 – 2025-26. It counts every game between the two teams that the house holds, this one included.

SportiveWorld knows much more about this game

Game context

Attendance

17.794

100% of capacity

FedExForum · Memphis

Series

Game 5

First round

MEM 4-2

Scoring

220

combined points

7.4 above the season average (212.6)

⚖️ The last two minutes

Official NBA L2M report: every call in the endgame, reviewed by the league.

10 calls reviewed0 no admitted errors