The 2014 NBA playoffs continued Monday with quite the showcase discrepancy.
From epic overtime thriller to a contest decided by the second quarter, fans of the Association indeed witnessed two entirely different matchups.
On a day for the Western Conference, the Oklahoma City Thunder hosted the Memphis Grizzlies, while the Golden State Warriors battled the Los Angeles Clippers in respective Game 2s. The underdog won in ultra-compelling fashion in the first, whereas the lower seed showed its inferiority to the worst possible extent in the later telecast.
Let’s recap the hit-and-miss hardwood action.
Memphis 111, Oklahoma City 105
The winning team didn’t go wire to wire, but acted as if it had at every point of adversity down the stretch.
Memphis led the majority of the game, surviving a fourth-quarter Thunder surge before closing things out late in overtime by a comfortable six points. Zach Randolph powered the way with 24 points for a Grizzlies squad that outscored Oklahoma City by 20 in the paint (56-36). Fellow frontline stalwart Marc Gasol added 16 PTS, 7 REB and 7 AST, while floor general Mike Conley went for a game-changing 19 PTS, 12 AST double-double.
Yet, this contest boiled down to one dramatic sequence near the end of regulation. With the road team up five with just 13 seconds left, presumptive league MVP Kevin Durant hit an impossible fall-away three in the corner with Gasol draped all over him. He fully reinvigorated hope for the sellout crowd by completing the four-point play and reducing the deficit to 98-97.
After Conley made just one of two at the line, Russell Westbrook missed from downtown, only to have the usually offensively incapable Kendrick Perkins put back the errant shot as time expired.
Durant then made six of his team-leading 36 points in an overtime frame that was tied with 35 seconds remaining. Randolph would have none of it, however, and sealed the game with two free throws after Courtney Lee hit two of his own.
Westbrook finished with 29 PTS, 7 REB and 8 AST, while Serge Ibaka added a solid 15 PTS, 11 REB and 5 BLK for Oklahoma City. The Thunder shot just 39.4 percent from the floor, including 30 percent from distance (9-of-30). Memphis stifled their normally blazing pace and held them to only 16 fast-break points.
The Grizzlies will host Game 3 on Thursday at 8:00 PM ET.
Los Angeles 138, Golden State 98
The summary of this wholly lopsided affair shouldn’t even require in words the same number of points that decided its dreary outcome.
The Clippers evened their series with the Warriors at one apiece after demolishing the visiting squad from opening tip to the final whistle. Blake Griffin racked up 35 points and zero fouls in 30 minutes after amassing just 16 points in 19 minutes before fouling out in Game 1. Point man Chris Paul contributed 12 PTS, 6 REB, 10 AST and 5 STL, while the otherworldly rim-protector DeAndre Jordan added 11 PTS, 9 REB and 5 BLK.
Los Angeles outscored Golden State in every quarter. That included 11 following the opening frame and 15 entering the second half. This game was so completely out of hand that the likes of NBA afterthought Hedo Turkoglu scored 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting off the bench. He led a secondary unit that totaled a whopping 58 points.
Stephen Curry put on a clinic in the third quarter with dazzling finishes underneath the basket. But the 24 PTS, 8 AST and 2 STL by the Warriors’ floor leader were entirely inconsequential. The 11 points each by David Lee, Draymond Green and Jordan Crawford were also way too little, and way too late.
All told, the Clippers outshot Golden State from the floor, three-point range and the line. They generated more assists and fast-break points, and forced their Pacific Division rivals into an unsightly 26 turnovers.
Fortunately for the Warriors, this was only the second of a potentially seven-game series. They host the Clippers for Game 3 on Thursday at 10:30 PM ET.
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