The Memphis Grizzlies live to see another day with a 95-83 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night. Once again, Oklahoma City was unable to put together 48 minutes of their best basketball, and Memphis surged coming out of halftime to force a Game 7.
Oklahoma City controlled the first half of this game despite their star Kevin Durant picking up two quick early fouls and sitting much of the time leading up to the break. Westbrook who finished with 27 points led the charge for the Thunder in the first half, and at times looked unstoppable driving to the basket.
This game, however, is all about Zach Randolph. Randolph took over the game in the second half finishing with 30 points and 13 rebounds to lead all scores. Randolph was absolutely unstoppable as the Grizzlies went on to outscore the Thunder 51-29 in the second half.
Randolph put on a clinic in the post sporting amazing footwork and a varied scoring attack that included everything from pounding layups to step back jumpers. Oklahoma city had no defensive answer for the now third team All-NBA selection despite intense efforts from Collison and Ibaka, both highly regarded for their defensive prowess.
Oklahoma City, on the other hand, flatlined in the second half and were never able to match the offensive prowess they showed in the first half. After halftime Oklahoma City, who led by ten at the half, only mustered 29 points in the third and fourth quarters.
Kevin Durant continued his enormous struggles in this series finishing with just 11 points and 7 rebounds on 3-of-14 shooting, nine attempts of which were outside the arc. Once again, Durant could get nothing more than some forced jumpers and a series of bad shots.
The two teams will face off again on Sunday afternoon at 3:30pm in Oklahoma City where the Thunder defeated Memphis by an impressive 27 points on Wednesday night. Memphis looks to rebound from that loss and knock off the Thunder for their second straight playoff upset after knocking out the No.1 seeded Spurs in the first round.
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