OKC Thunder Win 3OT Thriller to Even Up NBA Quarterfinal Playoff Series with Memphis
Thunder outlast Grizzlies in three overtimes, tie series
CBSSports.com wire reports
May 10, 2011
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Kevin Durant scored six of his 35 points in the third overtime, and the Oklahoma City Thunder survived a thriller in holding off the Memphis Grizzlies 133-123 in a game that ended Tuesday morning. With the victory, the Thunder grabbed back home-court advantage and tied this Western Conference semifinal at two games apiece. Game 5 is on Wednesday night back in Oklahoma City. The winner of the series will play the Dallas Mavericks in the conference finals.
The finish couldn't have been more exciting in the second successive overtime game in this series. The sellout crowd stood through each overtime, though fans started trickling toward the exits as the clock ticked past midnight locally.
Russell Westbrook led the Thunder with 40 points. James Harden added 19, and Daequan Cook had 10.
The Grizzlies ran out of energy in the third overtime as they hit only 1 of 9 from the floor. Zach Randolph led Memphis with 34 points and 16 rebounds. Marc Gasol had 26 and 21 rebounds. O.J. Mayo had 18 and Mike Conley 16 before both fouled out. Greivis Vasquez had 14.
Conley forced the first overtime with his lone 3 of the game. Vasquez, the rookie playing because Conley had fouled out late in the first overtime, hit a 3 to set up the second overtime. Gasol scored on a tip-in that set up the third OT.
The Thunder had their chances to win at the end of regulation and each overtime. Westbrook's jumper hit the rim before the buzzer to end the first 48 minutes. Durant, the NBA's leading scorer, had a 3 fall short of the basket at the end of the first overtime, and Westbrook's long jumper grazed the front of the rim at the buzzer ending the second overtime.
In the third overtime, the Thunder finally took control. Westbrook scored with 3:38 left to put the Thunder up for good. Durant added a pair of free throws, and Serge Ibaka hit a jumper before Durant scored on a running layup for a 129-123 lead with 58.8 seconds left. Durant stole the ball from Randolph on the other end, then hit a long jumper over Shane Battier with 29.3 seconds left for a 131-123 lead.
Memphis will think about this game after jumping out to an 18-point lead only to squander it.
Oklahoma City, the NBA's best free-throw shooting team, got back into this one at the line, where much of this game was spent. The Thunder hit 15 of 17 shots in the second quarter alone and finished 31 of 39 in regulation. Durant, who missed his lone attempt in Game 3, was 16 of 18 at the line himself. The Thunder went 42 of 50 at the line compared to Memphis, which hit 37 of 40.
This game was the mirror opposite of the one these teams played Saturday night. In that one, the Thunder blew a 16-point lead and lost in overtime. This time, the Grizzlies wasted an 18-point lead, rallied from 10 down in the fourth quarter to force the extra five minutes only to lose.
Memphis led by as much as 18 points when Mayo scored with 8:21 left in the second quarter at 37-19. Then the Thunder went small and sent one Memphis player after another to the bench in foul trouble. They hit 15 of 17 in the second quarter to pull within 53-49 at halftime.
Durant completed the comeback by tying it at 61 with 7:30 left on a pullup jumper that was just his third made field goal, which he celebrated with a fist pump. Westbrook put Oklahoma City up for the first time in the game with a driving layup with 5:16 left in the third, and that set up the game that no one wanted to end.
Notes
Oklahoma City went 8-2 in overtime games in the regular season, with one of those losses to Memphis. ... The Thunder scored just 16 points in the first quarter Dec. 1 at New Jersey. ... Oklahoma City shot 82.3 percent from the line during the regular season.
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Grizzlies rally from 16 down, go up 2-1 on Thunder
By TERESA M. WALKER, AP Sports Writer
May 7, 9:50 pm EDT
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP)-The Memphis Grizzlies are finding a little desperation can carry them a long way. How far? That remains to be seen, but they sure keep finding ways to win. Zach Randolph had 21 points and a franchise-record 21 rebounds, and the Grizzlies rallied from a 16-point deficit to stun the Oklahoma City Thunder 101-93 in overtime Saturday and grab a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference semifinal.
The Grizzlies are trying to do something no NBA team has done in climbing from the No. 8 seed all the way to the Western Conference finals. They moved two wins away from that by remaining undefeated on their home court this postseason.
Memphis coach Lionel Hollins knows his Grizzlies were fortunate, but says that’s the NBA playoffs. “In order to go further, you always have to be in games where you’ve got to do something miraculous in order to win the game,” Hollins said. “I thought this was miraculous the way we fought back after being down 16, and it was a super win. And like I said, by the grace of God we were fortunate to come out on top.”
The Grizzlies did it with an amazing comeback in a game they couldn’t have looked more out of synch or rusty early, but scored the first six points of overtime to finish off the victory. Guard Mike Conley said the Grizzlies just didn’t come with effort the first three quarters. “I think once we looked up at the clock and saw how many points we were down, a little bit of desperation hit,” Conley said. “We were like, ‘Man, we cannot lose this game.’ And guys amped up their game, made some changes here and there, and we were able to just be scrappy and play our game, and fortunately we got the win.”
Kevin Durant, the NBA’s scoring leader in the regular season and these playoffs, took only three shots in overtime and missed them all. He finished with 22 points, his lowest this postseason after averaging 31.6 points coming in. He also attempted only one free throw, which he missed. Durant groaned heavily as he walked away after talking with reporters. “This is a tough loss,” Durant said. “I’m trying to stay positive, but it was tough. This was tough. We were up 13 going into the fourth, had a good roll going. It was tough.”
O.J. Mayo had 18 points off the bench. Conley also scored 18, Marc Gasol had 16 and Tony Allen 10.
Russell Westbrook had 23 points and 12 assists, but committed five of his seven turnovers after the third quarter before fouling out late in overtime for the Thunder. Serge Ibaka had 14 points and James Harden(notes) 12.
Thunder coach Scott Brooks said the Thunder played the way they wanted for three quarters. “And we stopped doing it,” Brooks said. “The last seven or eight minutes, we just stopped doing it, and we gave into their play. I give them credit. They really stepped up and got into us and made us take tough shots.”
Some of the credit for the Memphis comeback can go to Hollins switching to a small lineup in the second half, trying something different with Oklahoma City packing the paint to contain Randolph and Gasol. Hollins told his smaller Grizzlies that those big men had carried them to this point and that the time had come for the perimeter players to step up. Hollins went with Shane Battier, Allen, Mayo, Conley and Darrell Arthur for a stretch with Randolph and Gasol on the bench.
“Our guards took that challenge and were just aggressive,” Mayo said.
Mayo switched onto Westbrook, who hit 5 of 16 after halftime, and gave Conley the chance to rest a bit defensively. Mayo knows Westbrook well from having played against him for several years and also working out together in the offseason. Mayo was able to keep Westbrook off some of his favorite shooting spots on the floor. “I just wanted to use my size and my strength a little bit, and whenever he rose up to shoot the jumper, just contest…,” Mayo said. “I just made it a little difficult for him.
Conley said that gave him more energy and strength in his legs for offense. The guard had 10 points after the third quarter.
Randolph said every time he touched the ball in the first half, he found three defenders on him. He credits Mayo as the player of the game. “The guy did great on Westbrook. He took it upon himself to guard Westbrook, and he did a great job,” Randolph said
Oklahoma City was up 70-54 on Kendrick Perkins’ tip-in with 3:53 left in the third and seemed in control with Westbrook scoring 13 points in the period. Memphis erased that lead with a 13-2 run and outscored Oklahoma City 23-10 in the fourth quarter, then 15-7 in overtime. The Thunder hit just 3 of 12 in the extra period.
With the score tied at 86, both teams had a chance to win in regulation. Brooks took a timeout with 18 seconds to go, having to holler to get referee Ken Mauer’s attention in the roaring FedExForum. Durant missed a 20-footer off the back rim as the shot clock buzzer sounded with 4 seconds left, but Randolph’s own 3 for the win clanked off the rim at the buzzer.
Memphis took over in overtime. First, Allen drove for a layup, then Conley scored on a layup. Allen then hit two free throws for a 92-86 lead with 2:56 left. The Grizzlies polished the win off at the free throw line, hitting 9 of 12.
That left the Thunder thinking of what could have been. “We controlled that whole game,” Thunder guard James Harden said. “We just let one slip away.” Now their focus turns to Game 4 on Monday night.
“The quicker we can get over it and realize that we need to win one game here and we can still do that the better,” Thunder forward Nick Collison(notes) said. “If we win Game 4, then we’ll still be in good shape. As disappointing as it is, we need to get over it quickly and be ready to play in Game 4.”
The Grizzlies, coming off a three-day layoff that was their longest break in a couple weeks, didn’t give their sellout crowd much to cheer until late.
Oklahoma City scored the first five points, and the Thunder did what worked so well Tuesday night by collapsing whenever Memphis tried to pass the ball into the paint.
Memphis led 28-24 when the Thunder went on a 16-3 run and grabbed a 40-31 lead on a pair of free throws by Westbrook. Oklahoma City outscored Memphis 31-21 in the quarter and led 51-43 at halftime.
Conley didn’t score until 4:45 left in the first half on a fast-break layup.
NOTES: The Grizzlies had played in May only twice previously, and they were eliminated from the postseason in both games. Phoenix handled the honors May 1, 2005, and Dallas ended the Grizzlies’ season May 1, 2006. … The Grizzlies were 2-5 in overtime games in the regular season and now are 1-1 this postseason. … Memphis won despite shooting under 40 percent (37.8 percent) for the first time since Dec. 13, 2010, against Portland. … This was Memphis’ 11th come from behind victory this season and second in the playoffs trailing by 10 or more points in the second half.
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Thunder tie series with Grizzlies with 111-102 win
By JEFF LATZKE, AP Sports Writer
May 4, 4:25 am EDT
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)-Zach Randolph had his way with the Oklahoma City Thunder to get the Memphis Grizzlies a victory in Game 1. Game 2 was different from the very start. Randolph’s first shot got swatted by Serge Ibaka. His next two jumpers didn’t find their target. Soon, the Thunder had the lead and never gave it back.
Kevin Durant scored 26 points and Oklahoma City clamped down on Randolph and frontcourt partner Marc Gasol(notes) to beat the Grizzlies 111-102 Tuesday night to even the Western Conference semifinals. “We did a great job of starting the game out with some big-time intensity,” Durant said. “Everybody was physical. There was a lot of pushing and grabbing and holding from both teams, but that’s the kind of game you like in the playoffs.”
Randolph and Gasol combined for 54 points in Game 1, but barely managed half of that in the rematch. Randolph made just two of 13 shots and finished with 15 points and nine rebounds. Gasol was 3 for 9 and had 13 points and 10 boards.
“They attacked us and they were determined that they weren’t going to let Marc and Zach beat them,” Grizzlies forward Sam Young said. “They came out and every time Zach got the ball, they put so much pressure on them and contained him. Every time Marc got the ball, they made sure to bump him and pounded him and pounded him and it paid off.”
Game 3 is Saturday night in Memphis.
James Harden scored 21 points and fellow reserve Eric Maynor added 15 as Oklahoma City’s bench held a 48-29 scoring edge. All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook scored 24.
Mike Conley scored 24 for Memphis, which got within six in the final minute after trailing 97-76 with 6 1/2 minutes left in the fourth quarter. “It was a classic desperate team, more aggressive team,” Memphis coach Lionel Hollins said. “I say the desperate team usually wins, and they were the desperate team in their play, which was a sense of urgency and aggressiveness. They came out and attacked.”
Randolph, facing frequent double teams and even a triple team early on, never really got going. He and Gasol were a combined 7 for 7 in the first quarter of Game 1, but made just one of seven attempts this time while Oklahoma City got out to a 28-17 lead after the first quarter.
The Thunder would never trail after the opening 7 minutes.
“The first game, he really got it going early. It’s tough when he’s feeling good and he’s got the jump shot and his inside game,” Nick Collison said. “Give the guys credit that started on him because he didn’t really get it going early. He’s much tougher to guard after he hits a few jump shots.”
Memphis got within three in the second quarter before Oklahoma City extended its lead to 10 by halftime.
The Thunder finally shook free with an 18-6 run by the bench, featuring three 3-pointers by Maynor and seven points from Harden, to start the fourth quarter.
Harden hit three free throws-including one after Darrell Arthur was called for a technical for bumping him in retaliation-then turned a steal into a fast-break layup. Maynor’s third 3 gave Oklahoma City its first 20-point lead at 94-74 with 7:27 remaining, and Daequan Cook followed about a minute later with another 3 to bump the lead to 21.
The Thunder made their first four 3-pointers to start the fourth.
When Maynor and Cook finally were pulled in favor of Durant and Westbrook with just under 5 minutes left, the pair got a standing ovation.
After scoring just 16 points in Game 1, the Thunder’s bench tripled that amount in Game 2. “That’s what they’ve done all year, and that’s why we are in this position, because they’ve done either a good job of catching up or extending leads,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. “I thought they were outstanding tonight.”
Conley hit two 3-pointers and converted a three-point play during a 19-5 comeback that got Memphis within 104-98 with 46 seconds left, before Westbrook and Collison made a pair of free throws apiece to close it out.
The Thunder lost Ibaka, their starting power forward who blocked the most shots in the NBA in the regular season, to an apparent right knee injury with 2:09 remaining in the game. He hobbled to the locker room after fouling Conley and crashing to the floor along the baseline. Ibaka had been late out of the locker room at halftime after hurting his knee late in the first half, but rode a stationary bike in a tunnel before returning to the game in the third. “When I was in the game, I was fine,” said Ibaka, who had both ice on both knees in the locker room. “After a timeout, when I would stand up to go on the court, that’s when I would feel it. We’ve got three days off,” he added, “so I hope to be OK.”
NOTES: The Grizzlies’ first offensive rebound didn’t come until Gasol grabbed one with 24 seconds left in the first quarter, with his team down 11. … After the Thunder had lost at home in Game 1, Durant watched Monday night as Chicago and the Los Angeles Lakers followed suit but didn’t make too much of the developing trend. “I was just worried about us and how we could get better,” Durant said. … A fan, Roman Owen, hit a halfcourt shot in the break following the third quarter to win $20,000.
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Z-Bo, Gasol power Grizzlies past Thunder, 114-101
By JEFF LATZKE, AP Sports Writer
May 1, 5:17 pm EDT
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)-Zach Randolph and the Memphis Grizzlies powered their way to another playoff upset-not that he considers it one. Randolph had a playoff career-high 34 points and 10 rebounds, Marc Gasol added 20 points and 13 boards, and the Grizzlies outmatched the Oklahoma City Thunder inside for a 114-101 victory in the opening game of the Western Conference semifinals on Sunday.
“We believe,” Randolph said. “We definitely believe. Our confidence is up high. I tell the guys we can compete and play with anybody.”
Just as they did in a first-round upset of top-seeded San Antonio, Randolph and Gasol provided enough punch to give eighth-seeded Memphis a road victory in Game 1. Randolph and Gasol each scored 20 points in the same regular-season game only once this season, but did it in Game 1 against the Spurs and again to negate the Thunder’s home-court advantage right from the start.
“I think we always try to do that. The thing is that it’s not always possible,” Gasol said. “We always try to come out and execute and play the right way. It’s not always possible. Teams are going to adjust, and they’re going to do something different. We’ve got to keep being hungry, keep being unselfish offensively and defensively and keep playing the right way.”
Game 2 is Tuesday night in Oklahoma City.
Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 33 points and 11 rebounds. Russell Westbrook scored 29, but the All-Star tandem couldn’t overcome a big advantage in the paint for Memphis.
Randolph had two games with at least 30 points and 10 rebounds in the regular season against the Thunder, as Memphis won the series 3-1. And he was at it again from the tip, scoring the Grizzlies’ first seven points to provide them a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
“You can’t stop him. You’ve got to make them shoot tough shots like he’s been doing, but if he’s making them, he’s tough to stop,” Durant said. “He’s an animal.” Durant went on to say that he considers Randolph, a 10th-year veteran who’s bounced around the league with no postseason success until this year, to be “the best power forward in the league.”
“I’ve got to agree with that. Thanks, KD,” Randolph said with a smile. “I appreciate that.”
Before this year, Randolph hadn’t made the playoffs since his second year in the league with Portland in 2003 and-like the Grizzlies-had never won a postseason series before. All that is changing now for Randolph, an All-Star choice last season who was left out of the showcase this year. “I’ve felt like I don’t get a lot of respect I deserve. It’s nothing personal or nothing,” Randolph said. “I just try to come out and be the same player, consistent during the regular season and during playoffs. I just try to be this way all the time, play my way all the time, and not be up and down. The good players be consistent and stay consistent, not just playoffs but during the regular season, also.”
The only player in the league to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds each of the last three seasons, Randolph teams with Gasol to make the Grizzlies the NBA’s most productive team in the paint with a 51.5-point average. The Grizzlies racked up 52 against the Thunder, who had bolstered their interior defense with their trade deadline pickup of Kendrick Perkins from Boston.
That move allowed Serge Ibaka-the league’s top shot blocker-to move from center to power forward and give Oklahoma City two top defenders inside.
“They’re not an easy matchup,” Gasol said. “They’re big and strong, kind of how we are. But we’ve got different ways to play. We don’t just throw the ball in there and try to bang, bang.”
Randolph started out with short jumpers to give Memphis the lead for good in the opening 2 minutes, then he followed a 17-5 run fueled by the bench with the Grizzlies’ lone first-half 3-pointer to make it answer Durant’s two-handed alley-oop and make it 54-38 with 2:26 left before halftime.
The Thunder used a 20-7 charge that spanned intermission to get back within 61-58 before Randolph steadied the Grizzlies again. He hit two free throws, a putback, a tip-in and then a jumper that caromed high off the rim before going in during a key stretch to keep Oklahoma City at bay.
“The one thing that I admire in his game is he’s relentless. He’s always playing the game. You just know that the loves the game,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. “We have to do a better job of controlling him and making him miss some shots. It’s not going to be easy, and we know that going into it, and we knew that going into this game. He scores, and he scores in bunches, and we have to do a better job with that.”
Then, Shane Battier hit a 3-pointer from the right wing when Oklahoma City failed to get back in transition, and Gasol added three straight jumpers-the last one coming at the start of the fourth quarter to make it 86-71.
The advantage reached 91-74 when Battier followed O.J. Mayo’s 3-pointer with a layup with 10:22 left. Brooks called timeout and got Durant back in the game, and the NBA’s scoring champion immediately hit a 3-pointer to stop the bleeding. He added a putback on Westbrook’s miss and Ibaka had a two-handed slam as Oklahoma City rallied with nine straight points to get within 93-86 after Westbrook’s driving jumper with 7:09 remaining.
Mike Conley stopped the comeback with a floater in the lane, and Memphis scored five straight points to bump the lead up to 100-88 after Randolph’s jumper with 4:26 left.
The Grizzlies made 12 free throws in the final 3 minutes to close out another win for the underdogs-if you can even call them that anymore. “We don’t call ourselves anything. We believe we can compete against anybody in this league, and that’s how we really think, because we’ve done it all season,” Gasol said.
“It’s no surprise for us that we can compete and play good against good teams.”
NOTES: The series wasn’t set until Memphis beat San Antonio on Friday night, giving the teams a little over 36 hours to get ready for Game 1. “Neither team has had a lot of time for preparation. As we go along, the preparation will get better and the game plan will get better because after the first two games, we don’t play again until Saturday,” Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins said. … Durant and Westbrook averaged 56.2 points in the first round against Denver, with Durant leading the NBA with 32.4-4.8 pts ahead of second place Derrick Rose of Chicago. … Ibaka added 16 points and 11 rebounds for Oklahoma City.
CBSSports.com wire reports
May 10, 2011
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Kevin Durant scored six of his 35 points in the third overtime, and the Oklahoma City Thunder survived a thriller in holding off the Memphis Grizzlies 133-123 in a game that ended Tuesday morning. With the victory, the Thunder grabbed back home-court advantage and tied this Western Conference semifinal at two games apiece. Game 5 is on Wednesday night back in Oklahoma City. The winner of the series will play the Dallas Mavericks in the conference finals.
The finish couldn't have been more exciting in the second successive overtime game in this series. The sellout crowd stood through each overtime, though fans started trickling toward the exits as the clock ticked past midnight locally.
Russell Westbrook led the Thunder with 40 points. James Harden added 19, and Daequan Cook had 10.
The Grizzlies ran out of energy in the third overtime as they hit only 1 of 9 from the floor. Zach Randolph led Memphis with 34 points and 16 rebounds. Marc Gasol had 26 and 21 rebounds. O.J. Mayo had 18 and Mike Conley 16 before both fouled out. Greivis Vasquez had 14.
Conley forced the first overtime with his lone 3 of the game. Vasquez, the rookie playing because Conley had fouled out late in the first overtime, hit a 3 to set up the second overtime. Gasol scored on a tip-in that set up the third OT.
The Thunder had their chances to win at the end of regulation and each overtime. Westbrook's jumper hit the rim before the buzzer to end the first 48 minutes. Durant, the NBA's leading scorer, had a 3 fall short of the basket at the end of the first overtime, and Westbrook's long jumper grazed the front of the rim at the buzzer ending the second overtime.
In the third overtime, the Thunder finally took control. Westbrook scored with 3:38 left to put the Thunder up for good. Durant added a pair of free throws, and Serge Ibaka hit a jumper before Durant scored on a running layup for a 129-123 lead with 58.8 seconds left. Durant stole the ball from Randolph on the other end, then hit a long jumper over Shane Battier with 29.3 seconds left for a 131-123 lead.
Memphis will think about this game after jumping out to an 18-point lead only to squander it.
Oklahoma City, the NBA's best free-throw shooting team, got back into this one at the line, where much of this game was spent. The Thunder hit 15 of 17 shots in the second quarter alone and finished 31 of 39 in regulation. Durant, who missed his lone attempt in Game 3, was 16 of 18 at the line himself. The Thunder went 42 of 50 at the line compared to Memphis, which hit 37 of 40.
This game was the mirror opposite of the one these teams played Saturday night. In that one, the Thunder blew a 16-point lead and lost in overtime. This time, the Grizzlies wasted an 18-point lead, rallied from 10 down in the fourth quarter to force the extra five minutes only to lose.
Memphis led by as much as 18 points when Mayo scored with 8:21 left in the second quarter at 37-19. Then the Thunder went small and sent one Memphis player after another to the bench in foul trouble. They hit 15 of 17 in the second quarter to pull within 53-49 at halftime.
Durant completed the comeback by tying it at 61 with 7:30 left on a pullup jumper that was just his third made field goal, which he celebrated with a fist pump. Westbrook put Oklahoma City up for the first time in the game with a driving layup with 5:16 left in the third, and that set up the game that no one wanted to end.
Notes
Oklahoma City went 8-2 in overtime games in the regular season, with one of those losses to Memphis. ... The Thunder scored just 16 points in the first quarter Dec. 1 at New Jersey. ... Oklahoma City shot 82.3 percent from the line during the regular season.
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Grizzlies rally from 16 down, go up 2-1 on Thunder
By TERESA M. WALKER, AP Sports Writer
May 7, 9:50 pm EDT
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP)-The Memphis Grizzlies are finding a little desperation can carry them a long way. How far? That remains to be seen, but they sure keep finding ways to win. Zach Randolph had 21 points and a franchise-record 21 rebounds, and the Grizzlies rallied from a 16-point deficit to stun the Oklahoma City Thunder 101-93 in overtime Saturday and grab a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference semifinal.
The Grizzlies are trying to do something no NBA team has done in climbing from the No. 8 seed all the way to the Western Conference finals. They moved two wins away from that by remaining undefeated on their home court this postseason.
Memphis coach Lionel Hollins knows his Grizzlies were fortunate, but says that’s the NBA playoffs. “In order to go further, you always have to be in games where you’ve got to do something miraculous in order to win the game,” Hollins said. “I thought this was miraculous the way we fought back after being down 16, and it was a super win. And like I said, by the grace of God we were fortunate to come out on top.”
The Grizzlies did it with an amazing comeback in a game they couldn’t have looked more out of synch or rusty early, but scored the first six points of overtime to finish off the victory. Guard Mike Conley said the Grizzlies just didn’t come with effort the first three quarters. “I think once we looked up at the clock and saw how many points we were down, a little bit of desperation hit,” Conley said. “We were like, ‘Man, we cannot lose this game.’ And guys amped up their game, made some changes here and there, and we were able to just be scrappy and play our game, and fortunately we got the win.”
Kevin Durant, the NBA’s scoring leader in the regular season and these playoffs, took only three shots in overtime and missed them all. He finished with 22 points, his lowest this postseason after averaging 31.6 points coming in. He also attempted only one free throw, which he missed. Durant groaned heavily as he walked away after talking with reporters. “This is a tough loss,” Durant said. “I’m trying to stay positive, but it was tough. This was tough. We were up 13 going into the fourth, had a good roll going. It was tough.”
O.J. Mayo had 18 points off the bench. Conley also scored 18, Marc Gasol had 16 and Tony Allen 10.
Russell Westbrook had 23 points and 12 assists, but committed five of his seven turnovers after the third quarter before fouling out late in overtime for the Thunder. Serge Ibaka had 14 points and James Harden(notes) 12.
Thunder coach Scott Brooks said the Thunder played the way they wanted for three quarters. “And we stopped doing it,” Brooks said. “The last seven or eight minutes, we just stopped doing it, and we gave into their play. I give them credit. They really stepped up and got into us and made us take tough shots.”
Some of the credit for the Memphis comeback can go to Hollins switching to a small lineup in the second half, trying something different with Oklahoma City packing the paint to contain Randolph and Gasol. Hollins told his smaller Grizzlies that those big men had carried them to this point and that the time had come for the perimeter players to step up. Hollins went with Shane Battier, Allen, Mayo, Conley and Darrell Arthur for a stretch with Randolph and Gasol on the bench.
“Our guards took that challenge and were just aggressive,” Mayo said.
Mayo switched onto Westbrook, who hit 5 of 16 after halftime, and gave Conley the chance to rest a bit defensively. Mayo knows Westbrook well from having played against him for several years and also working out together in the offseason. Mayo was able to keep Westbrook off some of his favorite shooting spots on the floor. “I just wanted to use my size and my strength a little bit, and whenever he rose up to shoot the jumper, just contest…,” Mayo said. “I just made it a little difficult for him.
Conley said that gave him more energy and strength in his legs for offense. The guard had 10 points after the third quarter.
Randolph said every time he touched the ball in the first half, he found three defenders on him. He credits Mayo as the player of the game. “The guy did great on Westbrook. He took it upon himself to guard Westbrook, and he did a great job,” Randolph said
Oklahoma City was up 70-54 on Kendrick Perkins’ tip-in with 3:53 left in the third and seemed in control with Westbrook scoring 13 points in the period. Memphis erased that lead with a 13-2 run and outscored Oklahoma City 23-10 in the fourth quarter, then 15-7 in overtime. The Thunder hit just 3 of 12 in the extra period.
With the score tied at 86, both teams had a chance to win in regulation. Brooks took a timeout with 18 seconds to go, having to holler to get referee Ken Mauer’s attention in the roaring FedExForum. Durant missed a 20-footer off the back rim as the shot clock buzzer sounded with 4 seconds left, but Randolph’s own 3 for the win clanked off the rim at the buzzer.
Memphis took over in overtime. First, Allen drove for a layup, then Conley scored on a layup. Allen then hit two free throws for a 92-86 lead with 2:56 left. The Grizzlies polished the win off at the free throw line, hitting 9 of 12.
That left the Thunder thinking of what could have been. “We controlled that whole game,” Thunder guard James Harden said. “We just let one slip away.” Now their focus turns to Game 4 on Monday night.
“The quicker we can get over it and realize that we need to win one game here and we can still do that the better,” Thunder forward Nick Collison(notes) said. “If we win Game 4, then we’ll still be in good shape. As disappointing as it is, we need to get over it quickly and be ready to play in Game 4.”
The Grizzlies, coming off a three-day layoff that was their longest break in a couple weeks, didn’t give their sellout crowd much to cheer until late.
Oklahoma City scored the first five points, and the Thunder did what worked so well Tuesday night by collapsing whenever Memphis tried to pass the ball into the paint.
Memphis led 28-24 when the Thunder went on a 16-3 run and grabbed a 40-31 lead on a pair of free throws by Westbrook. Oklahoma City outscored Memphis 31-21 in the quarter and led 51-43 at halftime.
Conley didn’t score until 4:45 left in the first half on a fast-break layup.
NOTES: The Grizzlies had played in May only twice previously, and they were eliminated from the postseason in both games. Phoenix handled the honors May 1, 2005, and Dallas ended the Grizzlies’ season May 1, 2006. … The Grizzlies were 2-5 in overtime games in the regular season and now are 1-1 this postseason. … Memphis won despite shooting under 40 percent (37.8 percent) for the first time since Dec. 13, 2010, against Portland. … This was Memphis’ 11th come from behind victory this season and second in the playoffs trailing by 10 or more points in the second half.
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Thunder tie series with Grizzlies with 111-102 win
By JEFF LATZKE, AP Sports Writer
May 4, 4:25 am EDT
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)-Zach Randolph had his way with the Oklahoma City Thunder to get the Memphis Grizzlies a victory in Game 1. Game 2 was different from the very start. Randolph’s first shot got swatted by Serge Ibaka. His next two jumpers didn’t find their target. Soon, the Thunder had the lead and never gave it back.
Kevin Durant scored 26 points and Oklahoma City clamped down on Randolph and frontcourt partner Marc Gasol(notes) to beat the Grizzlies 111-102 Tuesday night to even the Western Conference semifinals. “We did a great job of starting the game out with some big-time intensity,” Durant said. “Everybody was physical. There was a lot of pushing and grabbing and holding from both teams, but that’s the kind of game you like in the playoffs.”
Randolph and Gasol combined for 54 points in Game 1, but barely managed half of that in the rematch. Randolph made just two of 13 shots and finished with 15 points and nine rebounds. Gasol was 3 for 9 and had 13 points and 10 boards.
“They attacked us and they were determined that they weren’t going to let Marc and Zach beat them,” Grizzlies forward Sam Young said. “They came out and every time Zach got the ball, they put so much pressure on them and contained him. Every time Marc got the ball, they made sure to bump him and pounded him and pounded him and it paid off.”
Game 3 is Saturday night in Memphis.
James Harden scored 21 points and fellow reserve Eric Maynor added 15 as Oklahoma City’s bench held a 48-29 scoring edge. All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook scored 24.
Mike Conley scored 24 for Memphis, which got within six in the final minute after trailing 97-76 with 6 1/2 minutes left in the fourth quarter. “It was a classic desperate team, more aggressive team,” Memphis coach Lionel Hollins said. “I say the desperate team usually wins, and they were the desperate team in their play, which was a sense of urgency and aggressiveness. They came out and attacked.”
Randolph, facing frequent double teams and even a triple team early on, never really got going. He and Gasol were a combined 7 for 7 in the first quarter of Game 1, but made just one of seven attempts this time while Oklahoma City got out to a 28-17 lead after the first quarter.
The Thunder would never trail after the opening 7 minutes.
“The first game, he really got it going early. It’s tough when he’s feeling good and he’s got the jump shot and his inside game,” Nick Collison said. “Give the guys credit that started on him because he didn’t really get it going early. He’s much tougher to guard after he hits a few jump shots.”
Memphis got within three in the second quarter before Oklahoma City extended its lead to 10 by halftime.
The Thunder finally shook free with an 18-6 run by the bench, featuring three 3-pointers by Maynor and seven points from Harden, to start the fourth quarter.
Harden hit three free throws-including one after Darrell Arthur was called for a technical for bumping him in retaliation-then turned a steal into a fast-break layup. Maynor’s third 3 gave Oklahoma City its first 20-point lead at 94-74 with 7:27 remaining, and Daequan Cook followed about a minute later with another 3 to bump the lead to 21.
The Thunder made their first four 3-pointers to start the fourth.
When Maynor and Cook finally were pulled in favor of Durant and Westbrook with just under 5 minutes left, the pair got a standing ovation.
After scoring just 16 points in Game 1, the Thunder’s bench tripled that amount in Game 2. “That’s what they’ve done all year, and that’s why we are in this position, because they’ve done either a good job of catching up or extending leads,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. “I thought they were outstanding tonight.”
Conley hit two 3-pointers and converted a three-point play during a 19-5 comeback that got Memphis within 104-98 with 46 seconds left, before Westbrook and Collison made a pair of free throws apiece to close it out.
The Thunder lost Ibaka, their starting power forward who blocked the most shots in the NBA in the regular season, to an apparent right knee injury with 2:09 remaining in the game. He hobbled to the locker room after fouling Conley and crashing to the floor along the baseline. Ibaka had been late out of the locker room at halftime after hurting his knee late in the first half, but rode a stationary bike in a tunnel before returning to the game in the third. “When I was in the game, I was fine,” said Ibaka, who had both ice on both knees in the locker room. “After a timeout, when I would stand up to go on the court, that’s when I would feel it. We’ve got three days off,” he added, “so I hope to be OK.”
NOTES: The Grizzlies’ first offensive rebound didn’t come until Gasol grabbed one with 24 seconds left in the first quarter, with his team down 11. … After the Thunder had lost at home in Game 1, Durant watched Monday night as Chicago and the Los Angeles Lakers followed suit but didn’t make too much of the developing trend. “I was just worried about us and how we could get better,” Durant said. … A fan, Roman Owen, hit a halfcourt shot in the break following the third quarter to win $20,000.
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Z-Bo, Gasol power Grizzlies past Thunder, 114-101
By JEFF LATZKE, AP Sports Writer
May 1, 5:17 pm EDT
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)-Zach Randolph and the Memphis Grizzlies powered their way to another playoff upset-not that he considers it one. Randolph had a playoff career-high 34 points and 10 rebounds, Marc Gasol added 20 points and 13 boards, and the Grizzlies outmatched the Oklahoma City Thunder inside for a 114-101 victory in the opening game of the Western Conference semifinals on Sunday.
“We believe,” Randolph said. “We definitely believe. Our confidence is up high. I tell the guys we can compete and play with anybody.”
Just as they did in a first-round upset of top-seeded San Antonio, Randolph and Gasol provided enough punch to give eighth-seeded Memphis a road victory in Game 1. Randolph and Gasol each scored 20 points in the same regular-season game only once this season, but did it in Game 1 against the Spurs and again to negate the Thunder’s home-court advantage right from the start.
“I think we always try to do that. The thing is that it’s not always possible,” Gasol said. “We always try to come out and execute and play the right way. It’s not always possible. Teams are going to adjust, and they’re going to do something different. We’ve got to keep being hungry, keep being unselfish offensively and defensively and keep playing the right way.”
Game 2 is Tuesday night in Oklahoma City.
Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 33 points and 11 rebounds. Russell Westbrook scored 29, but the All-Star tandem couldn’t overcome a big advantage in the paint for Memphis.
Randolph had two games with at least 30 points and 10 rebounds in the regular season against the Thunder, as Memphis won the series 3-1. And he was at it again from the tip, scoring the Grizzlies’ first seven points to provide them a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
“You can’t stop him. You’ve got to make them shoot tough shots like he’s been doing, but if he’s making them, he’s tough to stop,” Durant said. “He’s an animal.” Durant went on to say that he considers Randolph, a 10th-year veteran who’s bounced around the league with no postseason success until this year, to be “the best power forward in the league.”
“I’ve got to agree with that. Thanks, KD,” Randolph said with a smile. “I appreciate that.”
Before this year, Randolph hadn’t made the playoffs since his second year in the league with Portland in 2003 and-like the Grizzlies-had never won a postseason series before. All that is changing now for Randolph, an All-Star choice last season who was left out of the showcase this year. “I’ve felt like I don’t get a lot of respect I deserve. It’s nothing personal or nothing,” Randolph said. “I just try to come out and be the same player, consistent during the regular season and during playoffs. I just try to be this way all the time, play my way all the time, and not be up and down. The good players be consistent and stay consistent, not just playoffs but during the regular season, also.”
The only player in the league to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds each of the last three seasons, Randolph teams with Gasol to make the Grizzlies the NBA’s most productive team in the paint with a 51.5-point average. The Grizzlies racked up 52 against the Thunder, who had bolstered their interior defense with their trade deadline pickup of Kendrick Perkins from Boston.
That move allowed Serge Ibaka-the league’s top shot blocker-to move from center to power forward and give Oklahoma City two top defenders inside.
“They’re not an easy matchup,” Gasol said. “They’re big and strong, kind of how we are. But we’ve got different ways to play. We don’t just throw the ball in there and try to bang, bang.”
Randolph started out with short jumpers to give Memphis the lead for good in the opening 2 minutes, then he followed a 17-5 run fueled by the bench with the Grizzlies’ lone first-half 3-pointer to make it answer Durant’s two-handed alley-oop and make it 54-38 with 2:26 left before halftime.
The Thunder used a 20-7 charge that spanned intermission to get back within 61-58 before Randolph steadied the Grizzlies again. He hit two free throws, a putback, a tip-in and then a jumper that caromed high off the rim before going in during a key stretch to keep Oklahoma City at bay.
“The one thing that I admire in his game is he’s relentless. He’s always playing the game. You just know that the loves the game,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. “We have to do a better job of controlling him and making him miss some shots. It’s not going to be easy, and we know that going into it, and we knew that going into this game. He scores, and he scores in bunches, and we have to do a better job with that.”
Then, Shane Battier hit a 3-pointer from the right wing when Oklahoma City failed to get back in transition, and Gasol added three straight jumpers-the last one coming at the start of the fourth quarter to make it 86-71.
The advantage reached 91-74 when Battier followed O.J. Mayo’s 3-pointer with a layup with 10:22 left. Brooks called timeout and got Durant back in the game, and the NBA’s scoring champion immediately hit a 3-pointer to stop the bleeding. He added a putback on Westbrook’s miss and Ibaka had a two-handed slam as Oklahoma City rallied with nine straight points to get within 93-86 after Westbrook’s driving jumper with 7:09 remaining.
Mike Conley stopped the comeback with a floater in the lane, and Memphis scored five straight points to bump the lead up to 100-88 after Randolph’s jumper with 4:26 left.
The Grizzlies made 12 free throws in the final 3 minutes to close out another win for the underdogs-if you can even call them that anymore. “We don’t call ourselves anything. We believe we can compete against anybody in this league, and that’s how we really think, because we’ve done it all season,” Gasol said.
“It’s no surprise for us that we can compete and play good against good teams.”
NOTES: The series wasn’t set until Memphis beat San Antonio on Friday night, giving the teams a little over 36 hours to get ready for Game 1. “Neither team has had a lot of time for preparation. As we go along, the preparation will get better and the game plan will get better because after the first two games, we don’t play again until Saturday,” Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins said. … Durant and Westbrook averaged 56.2 points in the first round against Denver, with Durant leading the NBA with 32.4-4.8 pts ahead of second place Derrick Rose of Chicago. … Ibaka added 16 points and 11 rebounds for Oklahoma City.