(Takes a deep breath)
Tuesday night, Denver won at Oklahoma City 114-104. It was the second of back-to-back road games for the Nuggets, who won a hard-fought overtime game at Chicago Monday night. One would have guessed the Thunder would have smoked the Nuggets, but Denver's energy and depth proved too much for OKC.
So, now the Thunder arrive in Memphis. The Grizzlies looked pretty good Monday night in a victory over Minnesota. This, however, ain't Minnesota.
The Thunder have two of the best players in the world, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Durant reminds me so much of George Gervin. He's taller than most guys at his position (small forward), a smooth ball handler, above-average range on his jumper and the ability to get to the rim pretty much whenever he wants. Memphis will probably start with Prince on Durant, but Allen may get a turn chasing Durant as well.
Westbrook is probably the most dynamic point guard around. His rare combination of end-to-end speed and strength allows him to overwhelm most opposition PGs. The only thing that holds him back is his emotion. He has lost his poise in games, which in turn pushes him to make poor decisions in the midst of games. But when he's on, he's better than nearly everyone against whom he plays.
As of Wednesday morning, Memphis, the Clippers and the Nuggets are .006 percentage points apart, in the 3-4-5 seeded positions in the Western Conference. The Thunder are 4 games ahead of Memphis. Sacramento's victory over the Clippers on Tuesday night tightens up the standings a bit. For an NBA fan overall, the close competition is fun to watch. For a Memphis fan, it can be nerve-wracking. There's not a lot of room for off-nights for teams the rest of the season.
So, here we are. Memphis (as usual) needs a win to keep pace with the competition. Oklahoma City is a better team, but coming off a tough loss. The Thunder will want to come out early and dominate. The Memphis fans should be out in full force, imploring the home team to overcome this challenge.
My guess: Oklahoma City 108, Memphis 100. Memphis does have hope, though. Westbrook is the wild card. If Westbrook tries to force the action offensively (maybe shooting 10-29 or so), they'll waste enough possessions to allow Memphis to stay close & maybe squeak out a win. That's a big if.
To me, it's the best matchup on the NBA schedule for Wednesday night.
After the Game: Memphis 90, Oklahoma City 89 in overtime. It was a big win. The Grizz played better than OKC throughout the first three quarters, but looked like a bunch of "scufflin' hillbillies (for you pro wrestling fans)" in the fourth quarter. Conley scored 24, Bayless contributed 20 (including a 3 late in regulation to tie the score). OKC missed just enough free throws in the 4th and overtime to allow Memphis to squeak out a victory. I normally hate the "foul game" in late-game situations, but for Memphis tonight it worked.
For OKC, Durant (11/28 FG/A, 32 points) and Westbrook (7/25 FG/A, 20 points) took most of the shots, as they normally do. Tonight, they missed more than usual. The Thunder had 30 field goals, 9 assists and 15 turnovers. To quote former Colts coach Jim Mora, "don't know who we think we are, turning the ball over like that...".
Memphis had 32 field goals, 11 assists and 19 turnovers. Yeah, Bayless had 20 points, but 3 turnovers in 28 minutes. Randolph had 15 points and 18 rebs, but also 7 turnovers and shot 6/23 FG/A. Gasol had 14 points, 15 rebs and the game-winning tip-in basket.
So, yeah - the negative assist to turnover ratios for both teams make for ugly basketball. A win's a win, but to do well in the playoffs Memphis must be more polished on offense.
The win has Memphis only 3 games behind OKC in the Western Conference AND Memphis won the season series against the Thunder (2 games to 1). This keeps Memphis percentage points ahead of the Clippers and Nuggets in conference.
Next up for Memphis is a trip down-river to take on the troublesome New Orleans Hornets Friday night, then back up the river to host the Boston Celtics on Saturday night. Back-to-back, again. Fifteen regular season games left for Memphis - it's time to "do the tighten up"...
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