Grizzlies at Thunder
THE STORY: The upstart Memphis Grizzlies have one major playoff series upset in the record books and look to pull off another stunner when they meet the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals. Game 1 is Sunday in Oklahoma City. The eighth-seeded Grizzlies became just the fourth team in NBA history to eliminate a top-seeded team when they finished off the San Antonio Spurs in six games on Friday. Memphis hadn’t even won a single game in three previous visits to the playoffs before shocking the Spurs. Fourth-seeded Oklahoma City defeated the Denver Nuggets in five games in its first-round series and last played on Wednesday.
TV: 1 p.m. EST, ABC
ABOUT THE THUNDER: Oklahoma City had a relatively easy time in its series with Denver by winning the first three games. Forward Kevin Durant twice had games of 41 points while averaging 32.4 in the five-game conquest. Point guard Russell Westbrook averaged 23.8 points and 6.2 assists. The Thunder received a major boost from power forward Serge Ibaka, who averaged 10.2 points, 11 rebounds and 4.8 blocks against the Nuggets. Ibaka lived up to his “I-block-a” nickname with nine rejections in Wednesday’s series-clinching victory. Center Kendrick Perkins is a battle-tested playoff veteran and guard James Harden heads the Thunder’s bench.
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES: Memphis has a major star in forward Zach Randolph and will ride him as far as possible in this series. Randolph averaged 21.5 points and 9.2 rebounds in the six-game series against San Antonio. The Grizzlies have a solid supporting cast in guards Mike Conley and Tony Allen and center Marc Gasol. Conley’s matchup with Westbrook might be the most pivotal of the series. Allen had 11 steals in the final three games against the Spurs while Gasol had 30 rebounds over the final two contests. Guard O.J. Mayo and veteran forward Shane Battier lead a productive bench.
WHO'S HOT/WHO’S NOT: Randolph averaged 28.5 points and 11 rebounds in the final two games of the series against San Antonio. Durant averaged 36 points over the final two games against Denver.
KEY STATISTIC: The stars of the respective teams fared well during four regular-season meetings. Durant averaged 30.5 points and 8.3 rebounds against Memphis and Randolph averaged 26.5 points and 13 rebounds against Oklahoma City.
SEASON SERIES: Memphis won three of the four regular-season victories and the split the two games in Oklahoma City, losing 109-100 on Jan. 8 and winning 105-101 in overtime on Feb. 8. The Grizzlies won both games in Memphis – 110-105 on Jan. 4 and 107-101 on March 7.
LAST WORD: “Emotion is high, not just for the Memphis Grizzlies but for the whole city of Memphis and the fans. It’s something. It’s a great accomplishment. We’ve got to be happy. We should be happy. But it is a quick turnaround. We’ve got a game Sunday, and we have to get ready.” – Randolph, on the short turnaround from beating the Spurs on Friday night to playing in Oklahoma City on Sunday afternoon.