Memphis Grizzlies Blog – Page 59 – NBA Blog

Sam Young car stolen during ATM visit

WMC TV reports:

According to a Memphis Police report, Sam Young’s Chevy Camaro was stolen while he visited a walk-up ATM at South Main and Peabody Place. Witnesses saw a man with dreads drive away.

Police say the car thief might not have “scored” if Young had not left his car running.

Fortunately for Young, GM vehicles like his come equipped with the On-Star communications and security system. Police used it to track Young’s Camaro to the 1400 block of Breedlove in North Memphis. It was found unoccupied before being returned to the basketball star.

Grizzlies beat Thunder 95-83 in Game 6

The AP reports:

Grizzlies push Thunder back to OKC for Game 7

The Memphis Grizzlies may have finally figured out how to keep the Oklahoma City Thunder from smothering Zach Randolph.

O.J. Mayo moved back into the starting lineup, and his scoring threat from the outside gave Randolph enough room to score 30 points and grab 13 rebounds Friday night as the Grizzlies avoided elimination by beating the Thunder 95-83 to push their Western Conference semifinal to a deciding Game 7…

Mayo moved from the starting lineup to the bench at the start of January, though he did start the final two games of the regular season with the Grizzlies resting for the postseason. But the Thunder had held Randolph to 31.9 percent shooting since he scored 34 points in Game 1 of this series, so Memphis coach Lionel Hollins started Mayo in place of Sam Young…

Mayo scored 16 points for Memphis. Conley had 11 points and a franchise playoff-record 12 assists, and Tony Allen added 10 points. Now the Grizzlies are 5-1 on their home court this postseason, this win celebrated by sellout crowd that stood the entire second half cheering to keep this stunning run going at least one more game…

Memphis outscored the Thunder 51-29 in the second half and 46-38 in the paint overall.

Russell Westbrook led the Thunder with 27 points, and James Harden had 14. Kevin Durant, the NBA’s leading scorer in the regular season, was held to a season-worst 11 points on 3-of-14 shooting. It was his lowest scoring game since he had six points in eight minutes Feb. 27, 2009, at Dallas.

Live fan discussion of the game took place in this forum topic.

Durant, Thunder ease past Grizzlies 99-72 in Game 5

The AP reports:

Kevin Durant’s work was done early.

After three quarters. Not three overtimes.

Instead of hunting down key shots, he was tracking down a T-shirt from the stands and reveling in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 99-72 blowout of the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night that gave them their first series lead in the Western Conference semifinals…

Marc Gasol had 16 points to lead Memphis, which didn’t have much left after such a draining loss on its home court.

The Grizzlies shot a season-worst 36 percent, matched their lowest point total from the regular season and never put up much of a fight in the second half…

Zach Randolph, who played 56 minutes in the marathon Game 4, never was effective for Memphis. He finished with nine points and seven rebounds, and even missed four of his first five free throws. He had been averaging 26 points and 14 rebounds in the series…

Conley made just 4 of 16 shots, Tony Allen was 4 for 13 and O.J. Mayo 2 for 8 on a dreadful night when nothing was going in…

Westbrook had 11 points in 25 minutes—half of what he played in Game 4. Mohammed added 10 points and Collison had nine points and 10 rebounds, helping the Thunder to a 50-33 edge on the boards.

Thunder tie series with Memphis with 3 OT thriller

The AP reports:

Kevin Durant scored six of his 35 points in the third overtime, and the Thunder scored the final 10 points to beat the Memphis Grizzlies 133-123 in a thriller that started Monday night and ended early Tuesday morning.

It was the second straight overtime game in the series and the NBA’s first triple-overtime playoff game since Chicago downed Boston 128-127 on April 30, 2009…

The Thunder blew a 16-point lead in losing Game 3 101-93 in overtime. This time, Memphis was up 18, lost that and fell behind 10 in the fourth quarter only to rally.

Memphis’ Mike Conley hit a 3 over a couple defenders to set up the first overtime. Grizzlies rookie Greivis Vasquez hit an off-balance, one-handed 3 setting up the second overtime, and it was Marc Gasol’s scoring to help extend this game five more minutes…

Russell Westbrook led the Thunder with 40 points and only three turnovers in more than 51 minutes of play. James Harden added 19, and Daequan Cook had 10. Durant, Westbrook and Harden played the most minutes in a single game in their pro careers. For Memphis, Zach Randolph and Gasol posted career highs in minutes…

Randolph led Memphis with 34 points and 16 rebounds. Gasol had 26 and 21 rebounds. O.J. Mayo had 18 points and Conley 16 before both fouled out. Vasquez had 14.

Live fan discussion of the game took place in this forum topic.

Grizzlies rally from 16 down, go up 2-1 on Thunder

The AP reports:

Zach Randolph had 21 points and a franchise-record 21 rebounds, and the Memphis Grizzlies rallied from a 16-point deficit to stun the Oklahoma City Thunder 101-93 in overtime Saturday and grab a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference semifinal.

The Grizzlies are trying to do something no NBA team has done in climbing from the No. 8 seed all the way to the Western Conference finals. They moved two wins away from that by remaining undefeated on their home court this postseason…

Kevin Durant, the NBA’s scoring leader in the regular season and these playoffs, took only three shots in overtime and missed them all. He finished with 22 points, his lowest this postseason after averaging 31.6 points coming in.

O.J. Mayo had 18 points off the bench. Mike Conley also scored 18, Marc Gasol had 16 and Tony Allen 10.

Russell Westbrook had 23 points and 12 assists, but committed seven turnovers and fouled out late in overtime for the Thunder. Serge Ibaka had 14 points and James Harden 12.

Oklahoma City was up 70-54 on Kendrick Perkins’ tip-in with 3:53 left in the third and seemed in control with Westbrook scoring 13 points in the period.

Memphis erased that lead with a 13-2 run and outscored Oklahoma City 23-10 in the fourth quarter, then 15-7 in overtime. The Thunder hit just 3 of 12 in the extra period.

Live fan discussion of the game took place in this forum topic.

Thunder forward Serge Ibaka misses practice due to ankle sprain

The AP reports:

Starting power forward Serge Ibaka did not participate in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s practice Thursday because of a sprained left ankle.

Coach Scott Brooks says Ibaka is day-to-day. The Thunder are officially listing him as probable for Game 3 on Saturday in Memphis. The series is tied 1-1.

Durant scores 26, Thunder tie series with Grizzlies with 111-102 win

The AP reports:

Zach Randolph’s first shot got swatted by Serge Ibaka. His next two jumpers didn’t find their target. Soon, the Thunder had the lead and never gave it back.

Kevin Durant scored 26 points and Oklahoma City clamped down on Randolph and frontcourt partner Marc Gasol to beat the Grizzlies 111-102 Tuesday night to even the Western Conference semifinals…

Randolph and Gasol combined for 54 points in Game 1, but barely managed half of that in the rematch. Randolph made just two of 13 shots and finished with 15 points and nine rebounds. Gasol was 3 for 9 and had 13 points and 10 boards…

James Harden scored 21 points and fellow reserve Eric Maynor added 15 as Oklahoma City’s bench held a 48-29 scoring edge. All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook scored 24.

Mike Conley scored 24 for Memphis, which got within six in the final minute after trailing 97-76 with 6 1/2 minutes left in the fourth quarter…

The Thunder finally shook free with an 18-6 run by the bench, featuring three 3-pointers by Maynor and seven points from Harden, to start the fourth quarter.

Harden hit three free throws—including one after Darrell Arthur was called for a technical for bumping him in retaliation—then turned a steal into a fast-break layup. Maynor’s third 3 gave Oklahoma City its first 20-point lead at 94-74 with 7:27 remaining, and Daequan Cook followed about a minute later with another 3 to bump the lead to 21.

InsideHoops.com editor says: The Thunder bench were the stars of the evening. Harden shot 5-of-9 and 11-of-11 free throws for 21 points and five assists. And guard Eric Maynor shot 6-of-7, including 3-of-4 three-pointers, for 15 points.

NBA mandates metal detectors for playoffs

ESPN Chicago reports:

In the aftermath of the death of Osama bin Laden, the Chicago Bulls will use metal detectors to screen all patrons entering the United Center before Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinal against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday.

The NBA issued the mandate for the conference semifinals and all subsequent playoff games.

Not all arenas in the league regularly use metal detectors. At the United Center, patrons are visually inspected. Metal detectors are only employed in a full inspection when, according to the venue’s website, it is determined that “the potential is high for inappropriate or illegal items to be brought into the building.”

Kevin Durant says Zach Randolph is unstoppable. Randolph says Durant is right

I love trash-talk in basketball, both on and off the court. As long as a player can back it up, I think it adds a fun element to the game. With that said, here’s some great stuff after Grizzlies-Thunder Game 1:

Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports:

Someone informed Zach Randolph about what was being said about him in the Oklahoma City Thunder locker room, and the Grizzlies’ power forward shot back with a line as snappy as the one he put on the final statistical sheet.

Oklahoma City’s scoring machine Kevin Durant basically called Randolph unstoppable and the best on the planet at his position.

“I’ve got to agree with that. Thanks, KD,” a smiling Randolph said while sitting in front of a microphone as the interview room filled with laughter…

“You can not stop him,” said Durant, who led the Thunder with 33 points. “You have to make him take tough shots. He is the go-to guy. He gets into position and gets to where he wants to be. … We must help those guys (Ibaka and Perkins) out more.”

I love it, and wish Grizzlies-Thunder Game 2 was starting, oh, about right now.

Have a reaction? Share it with other fans in this InsideHoops forum topic.

Z-Bo, Gasol power Grizzlies past Thunder to win Game 1, 114-101

The AP reports:

Zach Randolph and the Memphis Grizzlies powered their way to another playoff upset—not that he considers it one.

Randolph had a playoff career-high 34 points and 10 rebounds, Marc Gasol added 20 points and 13 boards, and the Grizzlies outmatched the Oklahoma City Thunder inside for a 114-101 victory in the opening game of the Western Conference semifinals on Sunday…

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 33 points and 11 rebounds. Russell Westbrook scored 29, but the All-Star tandem couldn’t overcome a big advantage in the paint for Memphis…

Randolph started out with short jumpers to give Memphis the lead for good in the opening 2 minutes, then he followed a 17-5 run fueled by the bench with the Grizzlies’ lone first-half 3-pointer to make it answer Durant’s two-handed alley-oop and make it 54-38 with 2:26 left before halftime.

The Thunder used a 20-7 charge that spanned intermission to get back within 61-58 before Randolph steadied the Grizzlies again. He hit two free throws, a putback, a tip-in and then a jumper that caromed high off the rim before going in during a key stretch to keep Oklahoma City at bay…

The Grizzlies made 12 free throws in the final 3 minutes to close out another win for the underdogs—if you can even call them that anymore.