The [Minnesota Timberwolves](/) were coming off one of their most impressive wins of the season. A wire-to-wire dismantling of the reigning champions despite being at the end of a back-to-back. The Memphis Grizzlies? They were coming off a road loss to the second to last place New Orleans Pelicans, and now on the end of their own back-to-back.
Not only was Memphis already down several key players such as Ja Morant, they would be without the services of two-time All-Star Jaren Jackson Jr. and other key starters such as Santi Aldama. It was a classic “trap game” which [Minnesota fell prey to in December](/timberwolves-scores-results/63140/grizzlies-vs-timberwolves-nba-game-recap-final-score). A game which Head Coach Chris Finch called “a horrendous night” and Jock Landale went off for season-high in three-pointers made.
Who they _would_ have tonight was Ty Jerome. Jerome, the second runner-up for Sixth Man of the Year last season, made his long-awaited season debut for the Grizzlies. He would make his presence felt early, scoring the first four points and taking an early lead for his team.
The 7-2 lead would be the only lead for Memphis.
Julius Randle was red hot from perimeter early, draining three straight treys in the first quarter. Anthony Edwards was testing the perimeter defense of the zombie Grizzlies, scoring on a bevy of beautiful jumpers. Memphis tried to do their best the hang in there, even goading Rudy Gobert into an early technical foul. However, it was clear from the first quarter that the talent difference was going to be too much for them to overcome. Even to the Timberwolves.
The Wolves had a nine-point lead heading into the second quarter, then quickly ballooned that up to 16 in the third. Naz Reid was superb once again, dialing in from deep over and over again. Nine of his 20 points came in the second period.
Minnesota did show a typical lack of intensity on the defensive end though. Many times, it felt that they were opting to exchange baskets with Memphis, hoping that eventually the Grizzlies would just give up. To their credit, the Wolves upheld their end of the bargain, converting on 12 mid-range jumpers and 18 three-pointers. They shot an impressive 52.8% from the field.
The Grizzlies final push came early in the fourth quarter, drawing eight free throw attempts early to slice the lead down to 13, but that was as close as it ever got. It was nearly seven full minutes of Yakety Sax basketball with both teams throwing the ball all over the place, but Minnesota just had too many shot makers on their team.
At the end of the day, it was a fairly easy win against a team they should have have steamrolled.
Sometimes, games just aren’t that exciting. Tonight was one of them.
Both teams get a day off before they do it all over again. The play the **Memphis Grizzlies** on **Monday, February 2** at **8:30 pm CT**. The rematch will be available for the national audience to watch on **Peacock / NBC** or **FanDuel Sports North**, for some reason.
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