Grizzlies at Thunder
THE STORY: The Memphis Grizzlies have shown they can play with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Now they have to prove they can beat them. The Grizzlies continue a brutal three-game road trip Friday night when they visit Oklahoma City, which owns the league's best record and has lost at home just once in nine games. The Thunder already own a pair of narrow road wins over Memphis this season, and got all they wanted from the Grizzlies before prevailing in a hotly contested seven-game playoff series last season. Oklahoma City returns home after completing a three-game road swing with an impressive 95-86 victory over the defending champion Dallas Mavericks. The Thunder finished the game on a 10-1 run and limited the Mavericks to 34 second-half points. “We played some of our best defense of the year,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. “We really got after the ball. We fought through screens. We contested their shots, and we rebounded the basketball. We couldn't ask for better effort and execution.”
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSOK
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (12-10): Memphis opened its three-game road trip with a surprisingly easy victory over the Atlanta Hawks. It was the first time the Grizzlies have won in Atlanta since November 2005. The Grizzlies had 13 steals in the game, including three by Rudy Gay that made him the all-time franchise leader with 525. He also had 21 points. O.J. Mayo continues to provide instant offense, averaging 17.6 points in his last three on 55 percent shooting (21 of 38).
ABOUT THE THUNDER (17-4): Forward Kevin Durant was named one of the Western Conference’s five starters for the All-Star Game. Durant has three straight double-doubles, averaging 32.0 points and 13.3 rebounds in that stretch. PG Russell Westbrook is also on a tear, averaging 30.6 points in the last three. Forward Serge Ibaka had a monster game against Dallas with a career-high 10 blocked shots to go with 11 rebounds. Ibaka tied a franchise record that was set when the team was still located in Seattle.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Oklahoma City is 13-0 this season when holding an opponent under 100 points.
2. Grizzlies C Marc Gasol has five straight double-digit rebounding games, averaging 12 boards in that span.