Memphis 122 – OKC Thunder 114
Rookie Cameron Payne hit a three pointer at the third period buzzer to give the Thunder an 80-79 lead heading into the fourth period. But right there and then you knew in the bottom of your heart of hearts the Memphis Grizzlies had this Durantless OKC Thunder team exactly where they wanted them.
Unlike last night when OKC went stone cold in the 4th scoring but 11 points on 2-17 shooting. Scoring in the fourth wasn’t a problem against the usually defensive minded Grizz as OKC tallied 34 in the period. Only problem was Memphis behind a 16 point fourth quarter from Mario Chalmers scored 43 of its own en route to an entertaining 122-114 win over the Thunder.
Brian Davis on the Fox telecast in his accustomed pro homer Thunder hyperbole called it a 15 round prizefight of the Thunder-Grizz Ages. I wouldn’t go that far, but it was a fun regular season game as both teams got after it offensively unlike so many of the previous Thunder-Grizzly wars.
Back to Chalmers–he was excellent coming off the bench for Memphis and scored 29 total on the night leading a group of five Memphis players in double figures consisting of himself, Gasol, Zbo, Conley and Jeff Green.
Memphis is now 6-6 for the season and 3-0 since the trade which brought Chalmers to Memphis from the Miami Heat.
So here I go…and I’m not just doing this because I featured Chalmers in my pregame, but Mario Chalmers is my OKCThunderGround Player of the Game.
It’s not that Russell Westbrook wasn’t spectacular offensively scoring 40 pts, assisting 14, and making three steals, but his team lost and Mario Chalmers’ team won. I’m kind of quirky about the award in that regard.
OKC wasn’t horrible like they were last night against Boston at home, they just weren’t good enough without Durant to take that 80-79 lead entering the fourth and put it in the bank as a tough, hard-earned road win. Same deal—without their stud closer, OKC withered coming down the stretch despite Westbrook basically being unwordly spectacular.
Ibaka, Adams, Kanter and Waiters also scored double figures for the Thunder. OKC won the boards 44-33, but hurt themselves with 19 turnovers.
Again…OKC’s overall bench play was a major factor—as in it wasn’t good enough to get a road win against a pretty decent team in Memphis. I’m not on board with Tramel over at newsok claiming the Grizz a serious contender, but they could win a round in the West post season tournament as long as they don’t face Golden State.
Thunder lose for the second night in a row and drop to 6-5 plus several notches down the rung in the early season standings behind the Warriors and Spurs.
Thunder hosts Anthony Davis and the most disappointing team in the league to date this young season when New Orleans visits the Chesapeake Energy Arena on Wednesday.
Mike Jackson