Memphis Grizzlies stun Oklahoma City Thunder to win game 1
of the Western Conference Semi-finals - Part 2
Oklahoma City (OKC) Thunder came out aggressively in the third, going on an 11-4 run right at the start to reduce the gap to 3 points. Serge Ibaka led the charge,
scoring 6 of the 11points. The Thunder power forward had 16 points on the night, as well as 11 rebounds. The scores got close again on 63-60, with 8 minutes left to play in the third but a flurry from Zach Randolph dashed Thunder’s hopes. He scored 8 of the
next 10 for Memphis and took the gap back to 6 points. The Memphis Grizzlies further damaged OKC’s hopes with an 11-2 run to end the quarter at 84 – 71.
The 13 point gap at the start the fourth seemed too much for the Thunder and they failed to mount a serious challenge.
The game ended with an open last quarter. Both teams scored at will as they matched each other in a high scoring period with 30 each. The scores however never got
close as Memphis maintained their lead and finished off with a 13 point margin, the same as the one at the end of the third.
The Thunder struggled against Zach Randolph throughout the game. Randolph showed his full range tonight prompting high praise from Durant who called him “the best
power forward in the league”. Zach hit OKC with jumpers early on, later he powered to the rim, scored tip-ins and even had a go from beyond the arc.
Kevin Durant admitted Thunder couldn’t handle him, "You can't stop him (Randolph). We've got to make him shoot tough shots but even when he missed he'd be there to
get his own rebound and the tip-in. He's an animal.”
The Thunder also struggled with their offense. Despite scoring over 100 points in the game, only three Thunder players got past the 10 point mark. Usual suspects
Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were helped out by Serge Ibaka with 16. However the next highest from OKC was 5 points – simply not good enough against a team of Grizzlies’ calibre.
On the Grizzlies side, Randolph may have been the spearhead, but the whole team played well. Memphis had 5 players in double digits on the night. The togetherness,
aggressive play and spirit of the team were especially impressive considering this was a road game.
Their head coach Lionel Hollins was understandably pleased,
"Any time you win on the road it's a steal so yeah we came in here and stole one. I'm just happy to come here and play the way we did coming off a tough series (with
San Antonio) and coming here with little to no preparation. I'm just excited, tired, but excited."
The road win for the Grizzlies has made the 8th seeds favourites for this series, if they can make home court advantage count, they could well be on their
way to the Conference finals. However it is a long series and OKC will surely make a comeback. They just need to get some offense out of their fringe players and somehow stop the juggernaut that is Zach Randolph.
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