Grizzlies at Thunder
The Oklahoma City Thunder are losers of five of six and followed up an impressive, emotional win with a big letdown on Thursday. The Thunder, who stayed out of the trade deadline madness on Thursday, hope to have some of their key pieces back when they host the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday.
Oklahoma City went into Golden State on Tuesday and beat down the defending champs 125-105 but suffered a pair of key injuries, and the loss of Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony to ankle ailments doomed the team in a 106-81 setback at the Los Angeles Lakers two days later. "Some of these guys were in situations for the first time in a lot of ways so it was different for them," Thunder coach Billy Donovan told reporters. "I thought we actually created and generated some pretty good looks, we just couldn't make any shots." Westbrook and Anthony are both considered day-to-day with the team staring at a stretch of three games in four nights heading into the All-Star break. The Grizzlies, who will see Oklahoma City in back-to-back games, missed out on any big deals at the deadline and should see Tyreke Evans return to the lineup Sunday after the team failed to find a deal for him.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Oklahoma, FS Southeast (Memphis)
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (18-36): Memphis pulled Evans off the floor to avoid an injury and did not play him in any of the last five games while the team tried to find a deal, but nothing materialized. "Basically, we felt that the offers weren't sufficient for a player of Tyreke's caliber and potential," general manager Chris Wallace told reporters. "And particularly they weren't sufficient when weighed against the potential benefits of having him here for the rest of the season. So, we decided not to do anything." Evans leads the Grizzlies in scoring (19.5 points) and assists (five) and scored 27 points on 11-of-17 shooting in his last game -- a 120-109 win over Phoenix on Jan. 29.
ABOUT THE THUNDER (31-25): Paul George was the lone Oklahoma City star on the floor Thursday and led the way with 29 points and nine rebounds. The All-Star free-agent-to-be is not having any trouble despite the team's swoon and is averaging 29.8 points on 51.2 percent shooting over the last six contests. "We didn't shoot the ball well as a team," George told reporters after the loss in Los Angeles. "We came out in a nice little rhythm. I know me personally I should have kept that rhythm and kept the same shots I was getting. Credit to them, they made adjustments after our hot start. They got the game going in transition. They played a little faster. I felt once they took that lead, we were just playing behind."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Grizzlies SG Andrew Harrison averaged 15.8 points on 50 percent shooting in five games without Evans.
2. Thunder PF Patrick Patterson is 2-of-21 from the floor over the last four games.
3. Oklahoma City took the first meeting, 102-101 at Memphis behind 20 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds from Westbrook on Dec. 9.