Game one ends with Memphis stealing one from OKC Thunder 114-101. Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol were a two man wrecking crew combining 54 pts on 21/33 shooting with 23 combined rebounds. Not only were Randolph and Gasol tearing the Thunder up (#Thunderup) offensively, the Thunder could not finish near the rim. They shot 37.6% in the paint compared to Memphis' 45.6%. Westbrook, who has come under recent criticism for shooting too much, scored 29 points and Durant scored 33 to supplement him.
The Grizzlies had their hands in the Thunder passing lanes all day long. The Grizzlies forced 18 turn overs, and had 17 offensive rebounds. They simply over powered us on the offensive glass. The Thunder went out and traded for Perkins and Mohammed with the intent to cut down getting bullied on the boards as they did last season against the Lakers. It didn't help at all today, regardless of the fact that Serge "Iblocka" Ibaka had 5 blocks with 11 rebounds and added to the scoring total with 16 points.
Ibaka was the only Thunder player, aside from Westbrook and Durant who scored double digits.
After Jeff Green was shipped to Boston in the Perkins deal, the question that many asked was this, "Where is that third scoring option going to come from?" The answer, down the stretch in the regular season was often James Harden. Harden, off the bench today, put up only 5 points on 2/5 shooting.
The answer going forward is simple.
- Keep Randolph, Gasol, and the rest of the Grizzlies off the glass (primarily offensively).
- Cut down on the stupid, inexcusable turnovers (Memphis scored almost 40 points off turnovers and offensive boards).
- Find that third scoring option.
Can this happen? Absolutely! But it needs to happen in game 2. Game 2, in my opinion, is a must win. We cannot head back to Memphis down 2-0.
I still like our chances, but we need to tighten things up to get out of this series. What do you think?
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