Oklahoma City Thunder hang tough to fend off the Memphis Grizzlies in a triple overtime thriller – Part 2
The Oklahoma City (OKC) Thunder took their first lead of the game midway through the third quarter. It took some doing though.
Every time the Thunder tried to come close, the tenacious Memphis Grizzlies always seemed to pull away. The scores were tied at 61-61, when Russell Westbrook pulled up for a jumper, only to see O.J. Mayo respond with a shot from downtown. Russell Westbrook, however refused to take no for an answer. He kept on giving scares to the Memphis defence and finally got OKC into the lead with two consecutive shots, making the score 67-66, with 5:15 left to play.
The lead changed hands three more times in the passage that followed, with Memphis regaining it right at the end of the period, thanks to a layup by Marc Gasol.
The teams entered the final period of regular time with the score finely poised at 71 – 70. The quarter saw more jousting for the advantage, and ended with the scores level at 96 – 96.
OKC made the better start in the fourth and pushed their advantage to as many as 10 points with 5:25 left to play. The Grizzlies answered with a 7 – 0 charge of their own to cut the lead back to 3. After exchanging some more shots, Mike Conley hit one from beyond the arc that levelled the scores. With just 3.5 seconds remaining, Westbrook had a chance to win it, but missed his shot.
The first period of overtime was tense to say the least. The Memphis Grizzlies watched in despair when Kevin Durant nailed a three to give OKC a 7 point lead with 2:12 left on the clock. O.J. Mayo however stepped up and nailed two 3-pointers to bring Memphis back in the game. He later fouled out and had to be replaced with rookie Greivis Vasquez. Vasquez didn’t let the occasion get the better of him though and hit a clutch three with 9 seconds remaining, which took the game into double overtime.
The second overtime resembled a boxing match as the teams exchanged one blow after another. The scores stayed close, with the largest gap being 3 points. Memphis missed three shots in the last 30 seconds and the Westbrook missed again at the death to see the game go into an unbelievable triple overtime.
With O.J. Mayo and Mike Conley already fouled out of the game, the Grizzlies lost finally ran out of steam. Kevin Durant hit 6 big points early in the third overtime that finally saw OKC emerge as the winners. OKC took the win 133 – 123.
Oklahoma’s coach Scott Brooks reflected on a thrilling ride, saying the Grizzlies gave them a h**l of a game,
"We had the game won a few times," Brooks said. "They made some incredible shots. That wasn't bad execution. Down the stretch, they made some incredible shots. That's what NBA players do. They make tough shots”
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