Grizzlies at Thunder
The Memphis Grizzlies and Oklahoma City Thunder have established a nice rivalry on the strength of three playoff meetings in the last four seasons, but they are on very different paths early in 2014-15. The Grizzlies continued the best start in franchise history and remained one of three unbeaten teams in the NBA with a 102-91 victory at Phoenix on Wednesday, improving to 3-0 on the road. Mike Conley had 24 points and 11 assists in the triumph, which began a three-game road trip for Memphis.
Oklahoma City's miserable run of injuries continued in a 100-88 loss at Toronto on Tuesday as forward Perry Jones left with knee pain after a collision early in the second half. The status of Jones, who was ushered into the starting lineup out of necessity and had averaged 23.7 points over his previous three games, remains unclear. Guard Reggie Jackson (wrist, knee) was also banged up in the loss to the Raptors but is expected to play Friday.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPN, FSN Oklahoma
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (5-0): Memphis has been a standout defensive unit for several seasons, and this one is no different - the Grizzlies limit opponents to a league-low 86.2 points. The Suns bucked that trend by racing to a 52-46 halftime lead Wednesday night, but Memphis showed some true mettle with a dominant second half on the road, holding Phoenix to just 13 baskets after intermission and forcing 21 turnovers overall. Grizzlies defenders might be salivating against a Thunder squad that is averaging a league-worst 32.8 field goals entering Thursday.
ABOUT THE THUNDER (1-4): With Jackson playing but not 100 percent, Serge Ibaka stands as the lone unscathed regular among the ranks in Oklahoma City. He had 25 points on 11-of-14 shooting and 11 rebounds while playing 46 minutes against Toronto. While superstars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are far from coming back to help, guard Jeremy Lamb is close to returning from a back sprain and the Thunder used a hardship exception on Thursday to sign guard Ish Smith, who played in 70 games for Phoenix in 2013-14.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Thunder G Andre Roberson (foot) also remains day-to-day after missing the game in Toronto.
2. Grizzlies SG Courtney Lee hit 4-of-5 3-pointers and scored 22 points in his return from a concussion Wednesday.
3. Thunder PG Sebastian Telfair is 9-for-18 from the floor in his last two games after going 4-for-28 over his first three.