Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant -
Top Performers from the May 9 second round playoff games: Part-2
Oklahoma City Thunder – Memphis Grizzlies
Russell Westbrook
On Monday night, the 6 ft 3 shooting guard Russell Westbrook kept the score board ticking for the Oklahoma City Thunder in a game that went into triple overtime at the FedEx Forum. Westbrook finished off with a game-high 40 points,
5 rebounds and 5 assists to spearhead the Thunder to a breathtaking 133-123 victory over the streaking Memphis Grizzlies.
The 22-year old guard had a slow start; however he struck back aggressively in the second quarter of the game and scored 10 points to keep the Oklahoma City in a competitive position. The Grizzlies were leading with 1 point in
the fourth quarter when Russell smashed the opposition with 9 points to seal a comprehensive advantage. However the Grizzlies managed to take the game in the overtime. Westbrook carried the action in all of the three overtimes as the Thunder eventually wrapped
up a brilliant win.
Kevin Durant
The mercurial forward Kevin Durant posted another double-double for the Thunder as he racked up 35 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. The leading scorer of the league powered the visiting team down the stretch as the Oklahoma City
tied the Western Conference best-of-seven semi-final series 2-2. Kevin was quite impressive from the free throw line and landed 16 out of 18 attempts.
Durant deems Monday’s game as one of the best he played and said after an electrifying victory, "It's something people are going to be talking about for a while. I'm glad I'm a part of it. ... It's was the biggest game of my life.
I just wanted to take advantage of it. I wanted to leave everything on the court and be satisfied with the results.”
Durant scored only 10 points in the first half of the game however he took the charge aggressively after halftime as the Oklahoma City survived a thriller and restricted the Grizzlies to 4 points in the third overtime. The 22-year-old
forward landed 6 points in the third overtime to lead the Thunder for an exhilarating win.
Zach Randolph
Memphis Grizzlies’ power forward Zach Randolph has been the dominating figure throughout the play-offs and he posted another impressive performance on the night. Randolph notched up a team-high 34 points and clutched 16 rebounds
however Memphis let go of their intensity in the third overtime and lost the game after a tremendous fight back down the stretch.
Randolph said after the game, "I think both teams were a little fatigued toward the end. It was a tough game. We've got to learn how to take care of leads better. It's a tough loss. You've got to give them credit. They played well
and hit big shots. Their two star players hit big shots toward the end of the game.''
Randolph landed most free throws 16 along with Durant in the game out of 17 attempts. The prolific forward score 15 points in the first half of the game to keep the Grizzlies on the frontline.
After Grizzlies tied the game with the end of the fourth quarter, Zack managed to keep the momentum intact in the first two overtimes however he failed to carry on in the final five minutes as the Oklahoma City sealed a comprehensive
win in the end.
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