The NBA regular season is a wholly different experience from the playoffs, with one often being closer to recess, while the other is more comparable to a seasoned, grad-level course.
In that sense, the Timberwolves and Grizzlies—both among the league’s youngest teams at just 24 years old on average—are the equivalent of baby geniuses sitting in a lecture hall, scribbling notes alongside college students twice their age.
They’re ahead of the curve, as evidenced by their Game 1 contest being the first time in NBA history that a pair of 22-year-olds scored 30 or more points in the same playoff game. The budding clubs played a high-scoring game at a blistering pace, things that go against the grain of what fans have come to expect from playoff basketball. It’s a shame that Game 2 of perhaps the most fascinating first-round matchup will be showcased on NBA TV, where fewer folks will see it.
