Is it a bird, an airplane? This is And Morant who hit a massive dunk at the start of the NBA Playoffs. Although his team, the Memphis Grizzlies, lost 130 of 117 against the Minnesota Timberwolves and his 32 points weren’t enough, the Dalzell, South Carolina native was the star with impressive action, where he is suspended in the air. as if it could float.

If Memphis lost it was because Morant didn’t have enough help from other mainstays like Jaren Jackson Jr. either Desmond Banewho contributed 11 and 17 points, respectively.

On the other side of the court, the first day of this series between the Grizzlies and Timberwolves became its main protagonist. Anthony Edwardsthe number one in the 2020 draft, just 20 years old, who closed the game with an impressive tally of 36 points, 4 triples and 6 assists.

Prior to him, only three players had reached the number of points before their 21st birthday and their Playoff debut: none other than magic johnson, Derrick Rose Y Tyler Herro. However, the scoring record for a debutant is still held by the Slovenian Doncicwith 42 points in 2020.

In this exhibition, Edwards directed the Timberwolves ’unexpected victory at the Grizzlies’ stadium, located second in the Western Conference.

The young Grizzlies, one of the emerging teams in the NBA, faced a playoff series for the first time with pressure to become favorites and the Timberwolves paid them off from the start of the game.

Minnesota, which finished the regular season in good shape, sent out the first warning that it would be a close series by taking a 30-17 lead in the opening quarter. The Grizzlies have never found their rhythm and it only stays that way thanks to the talent of Morant, one of the best players of the season, who built people up with some stratospheric dunks.

But the Timberwolves, with backup Malik Beasley (23 points) filling in D’Angelo Russell’s lackluster performance (10), continued their great attack and hit the first blow in the tie. Argentine Leandro Bolmaro has no minutes on the winning team and will wait for his turn next Tuesday, when they clash again in Memphis in the second game of the series.

Utah took advantage of Doncic’s absence

The first day of the Playoffs opened with the Utah Jazz’s win against the Dallas Mavericks at 99-93. The losing team could not count on its star Luka Doncic, who has been injured in a calf since the last game of the regular period.

Donovan Mitchell led Utah’s offense with 32 points, 30 of them in the second half, and Frenchman Rudy Gobert was the defensive bulwark (5 points and 17 rebounds) in the victory that had to sweat the Jazz more than expected.

Dallas finished the regular season in fourth place in the Western Conference, ahead of one in Utah, but its chances of advancing were tied to Doncic’s recovery.

The presence of the Slovenian phenomenon, which averages 28.4 points, 9.1 rebounds and 8.7 assists per game, is highly questionable for the second game of the series, which will be played again on Monday in Dallas.