NBA Play-offs Roundup May 7, 2011 - Memphis Grizzlies and Boston Celtics win
Memphis Grizzlies 101- Oklahoma City Thunder 93
On Saturday night, Memphis Grizzlies stunned the Oklahoma City Thunder as they came back from a 16 point deficit, deep into the third quarter, to eventually walk away with a 101-93 win in overtime at FedEx Forum.
Grizzlies’ mercurial power forward Zach Randolph was the star of the night. The Memphis henchman scored a double-double with 21 points and 21 rebounds in front of some 18,119 spectators. This victory gave the Grizzlies 2-1 lead in the Western Conference semi-final series against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Memphis head coach Lionel Hollins was ecstatic after the game, He said. “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, 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.”
Marc Gasol scored 16 points while Mike Conley and O.J Mayo added 18 points each in the Grizzlies victory.
For the Oklahoma City Thunder, although Russell Westbrook scored 23 and Kevin Durant gathered 22 points, their joint performances were not enough to stop the Grizzlies’ thrust.
Both the teams played at their full capacity until the fourth quarter as the scores were equalled at 86-86. The game went into overtime and the Grizzlies came out triumphant at 101- 93.
Boston Celtics 97- Miami Heat 81
On Saturday night, the Boston Celtics made an excellent comeback in the Eastern Conference Semi-final series against the Miami Heat. Playing in their own backyard, the C’s outplayed the Heat in the second half to script out a 97-81 win. Miami had beaten the Celtics in the first two games of the series.
Kevin Garnett led the Celts with 28 points and 18 rebounds. Paul Pierce also contributed with 27 points while Ray Allen gathered 15 points for the Boston Celtics.
Dwyane Wade scored 23 and LeBron James chipped in with just 15 points as the Heat failed to win the their third straight. However, the biggest disappointment of the night was Chris Bosh, who finished with only 6 points. Bosh struggled to out-smart Garnett all throughout the night. Mario Chalmers finished with 17 points off the bench for the Heat.
The Miami Heat head Coach Erik Spoelstra said after the game, “We understand fully now how tough it is to take down a champion, All this fuel, the last three days, that was going on, I was cringing. Because you know this is a proud group, and you knew they would have a response.”
Although the Boston Celtics carved out an early lead and finished the first quarter with a 27-21 advantage, the Heat fought back to go into the halftime with a 46-44 advantage.
The Celtics however erupted in third quarter and outscored the Heat 28-15 to break the game open. Dwyane Wade scored only 5 in the third while LeBron James could only manage a single point all quarter.
The final quarter was a replica of the third as the Boston Celtics completed the rout at 97-81.
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