Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Memphis Grizzlies: Breaking Down the Game
I know I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but I can't talk enough about how great the Thunder bench has been playing of late. Unfortunately, the starting lineup couldn't help them to pull out a win at home against Memphis. It was a hard-fought game that could have gone either way, but in the end the Grizzlies just wanted it more.
I want to start by praising the entire Memphis starting lineup. Four of the five played 40 minutes or more in the back end of a back to back. Add to that the fact that both Rudy Gay and O.J. Mayo were out and it makes this win that much more impressive.
Two guys really stood out tonight for me. The first was Tony Allen who absolutely torched the Thunder for 27 points. It wasn't his offensive game that stood out to me though; Allen played some of the best, pre-playoff defense I've seen in a long while, and against Kevin Durant no less. He was basically a one man fast break with five steals and three blocks, which was the biggest reason Memphis was able to come back from ten down at halftime.
The other guy that impressed me was Zach Randolph. Early on it seemed like he was going to held in check by Jeff Green and Serge Ibaka, but he was able to keep at it and really bust out in the second half. His 31 points and 14 rebounds were both team highs and he tied the lead in assists with four. With games like this it amazes me that he was left off anybodies all-star ballot.
When you look at the Thunder's bench the first guy that jumps out in this game is Serge Ibaka. In the first half he played some great defense and was able to come up with 14 boards and three blocks. Those 14 rebounds went a long way towards the Thunder winning the battle on the glass 58-36. This is especially impressive when you look at offensive rebounds, which the Thunder won 18-6, because, going into the game, Memphis was one of the best offensive rebounding teams.
However, it seemed like Randolph's big body wore on Ibaka as the game went on. Randolph ended up winning this matchup, but I still felt like Ibaka did all he could to give one of the better power forwards in the League a battle.
James Harden had a typical game tonight, going for 13 points, 4 rebounds, and two three-point field goals. If it wasn't for Memphis' size those numbers probably would've been bigger, but he just couldn't get the playing time he needed.
As you know, I can't go an entire article without mentioning Nick Collison. As usual you can't look at his stat line to see the real impact he had on the game. Instead you have to look at his main matchup, Marc Gasol. Collison was able to hold Gasol to 12 points and five rebounds in 44 minutes. Considering that Gasol averages 12 ppg and seven rpg on 11 minutes less than he played tonight, I'd say Collison had another good day at the office.
Kevin Durant joined the bench in having another great game, with 31 points and 10 boards. He continues to impress me on the glass and I hope this recent trend continues. OKC needs him to get defensive rebounds at a high clip to limit second chance points. If he's not helping, our undersized bigs are going to get beaten most of the time and giving up those second chance points will usually lead to a loss.
Durant's partners in crime, however, didn't play so well. Russell Westbrook had a really up and down game. His eight turnovers were a big reason behind why Memphis was able to make that third quarter comeback. I thought he was going to redeem himself in the fourth quarter, but he wasn't able to do enough to pull off the win. While his 21 points and 11 assists help him save a little face, those turnovers really hurt the Thunder in the second half.
Jeff Green, on the other hand, did almost nothing right on the offensive side of the ball. I'm willing to give him a little leeway because he needed to concentrate on defense a little more than usual to stop Zach Randolph, but his shooting performance can't be forgiven. It's hard to win a game when your third option goes 2-12 from the field and is only able to add seven rebounds. I'm not saying it's all Green's fault because the whole team seemed flat in the second half, but he needs to make a bounce back quick.
Early on it seemed like the Thunder would walk away with this game, but after halftime you could see that Memphis wanted to win this game much more than OKC. This kind of flat, sloppy play is something you never want to see from a squad, but the Thunder should be able to bounce back. I give all the credit in the world to the Grizzlies because they played their hearts out, especially Tony Allen.
It was good to see Allen back in Oklahoma playing like his old self...he'd look good in an OKC uniform. In the end, the Thunder need to forget this one quickly and move on because this is not the kind of performance you want to look back on after the season's over.
