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 For the Grizzlies that meant following the lead of reserve guard
Tony Allen. Even though he scored only eight points, he set the tone
and attitude that allowed them to come away with the 111-105
overtime victory Monday at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Game 2 of
their first-round playoff series.
"Just trying to just cause havoc the best way possible," Allen said.
"It's kind of to my favor."
The best-of-seven series is tied at 1-1 heading to Memphis for Game
3 Thursday. But the win did not come easily for Memphis, which
squandered a five-point lead in the final 19 seconds of regulation
time and survived a 36-point performance from Thunder forward Kevin
Durant.
With 2:19 left in overtime, Randolph scored to give the Grizzlies a
105-101 advantage. Durant responded with a 3-pointer to bring the
Thunder to within one.
After the Grizzlies missed a shot, Durant drove to the rim on a
fastbreak attempt, but could not convert after running into Memphis
guard Courtney Lee. The Grizzlies came up with the loose ball.
Thunder guard Thabo Sefolosha then stole the ball from Grizzlies
guard Mike Conley.
After a timeout, Durant was fouled by center Marc Gasol. Durant hit
only one of two from the free-throw line to tie game at 105-105 with
35 seconds left.
Oklahoma City didn't score again as the Grizzlies' defense
stiffened. Randolph and Lee scored the last six points to close out
the contest. Randolph's bucket with 26 seconds left put the
Grizzlies ahead to stay.
"It's tough to take that hit and go into overtime," Memphis coach
David Joerger said of blowing the lead in the closing seconds of the
fourth quarter. "That was a big moment. In that huddle it was a big
moment for us because we came out and executed and got stops in the
first two minutes of the overtime. I'm proud of our guys."
Randolph paced the Grizzlies with 25 points and six rebounds. Conley
scored 19 points to go along with 12 assists and seven rebounds. Lee
and Gasol each posted 16 points while guard Beno Udrih came off the
Memphis bench to score 14 points.
Durant scored his 36 points on 12-for-28 shooting. He also collected
11 boards and four assists. Guard Russell Westbrook added 29 points,
eight assists and seven rebounds. Forward Serge Ibaka had 15 points,
11 rebounds and five blocked shots in the loss.
The Grizzlies led by nine points with a little more than eight
minutes left in the fourth quarter before the Thunder rallied to
take a one-point lead on a Durant basket with 1:14 left.
After battling for a couple of offensive rebounds, the ball found
its way into guard Mike Miller's hands at the top of the key for a
3-pointer that gave Memphis a 95-93 advantage with 53 seconds left
in regulation.
Westbrook tried to answer, but his 3-point shot was off and the
Grizzlies got the rebound. Conley was fouled and he hit one of two
free throws.
The Thunder got the ball to Durant, but he turned it over under
Allen's pressure.
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"We have to do a better job getting their hands off him," Oklahoma
City coach Scott Brooks said of Allen's defense on Durant. "They did
a good job of putting their hands on us, and we didn't free ourselves
up enough."
Conley went to line again and hit a pair to give the Grizzlies a
98-93 lead with 18 seconds remaining.
Durant made a 3-pointer while being fouled and falling out of
bounds. The ensuing free throw closed gap to 98-97 with 13 seconds
left.
Conley was fouled and missed one of two from the line for a 99-97
Memphis lead with 12 seconds to go.
The Thunder tried to get the ball to Durant, but he was covered by
Allen. Westbrook ended up with an off-balance 3-pointer that was off
the mark. But center Kendrick Perkins, who had just been reinserted
into the game, came down with the offensive rebound and put back at
the buzzer to send the contest into overtime.
Even though the Thunder hit only 9-of-30 from behind the arc, Durant
said his team's shot selection was fine.
"I made 5-of-12," Durant said. "I think that's a great percentage.
We shot the shots that were open. I think we settled for a few. But
like I said, we put ourselves in position to win a basketball game.
They just made more plays than we did."
NOTES: Oklahoma City Thunder F Serge Ibaka received the April Kia
Community Assist Award in recognition of his charitable
contributions and generosity in his home country of the Republic of
the Congo, the NBA announced. "It was my dream when I was young to
help those orphanages," Ibaka said. "My mom died when I was 7 and I
know how hard it is for those kids in the street, how they live,
what they need, so that is why I want to work with UNICEF to do the
best I can to help them." ... Ibaka came in fourth in NBA Defensive
Player of the Year award. Chicago's Joakim Noah took home the award.
"Joakim is obviously one of the best defenders in the league and
Serge is right there," Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said. "He's
my defensive player of the year. I know what he does for us." ...
After Game 1 of the series, members of the Memphis media expressed
the opinion that coach David Joerger needed to bench F Tayshaun
Prince and start F Tony Allen. "We won 50 games and it's been pretty
good since the All-Star break playing the way that we were," Joerger
said. "So I don't know if we should jump off a cliff after a bad
first half. I think that's absurd."
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