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Thunder roll to victory over Grizzlies
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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
OKLAHOMA CITY -- 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.
The Thunder lead 3-2 heading into Game 6 on Friday night in Memphis. They got there with ease considering what happened in a triple-overtime thriller two nights earlier.
"There was no fatigue factor for us. ... I thought our guys came in with focus," Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said. "You beat good teams by really executing very well and with good effort, and we did both of them tonight."
After squandering a 16-point lead in the second half and losing Game 3 in overtime, the Thunder blew a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter before winning Game 4 in triple overtime Monday night.
This time, it was all over well before the final buzzer.
"Going through that kind of loss molds our character and brings us closer together," said Durant, who had a game-high 19 points. "Losing Game 3 the way we did and winning Game 4 the way we did, it kind of showed what type of team we are, what type of courage and heart we have."
Marc Gasol had 16 points to lead Memphis, which didn't have much left after such a draining loss on their 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.
"Shots weren't falling for us, but you still have to come with great effort, and we didn't bring it at all," guard Mike Conley said. "They outplayed us in every area of the game. I wish I could tell you why. It just wasn't there.
"They hit us and kept hitting us, and we didn't fight back."
The Thunder were far enough ahead that Durant and fellow All-Star Russell Westbrook didn't even have to play in the fourth quarter.
By the end, Durant was wearing one of the same white Thunder T-shirts as the sellout crowd and was standing on the sidelines directing the lineup of reserves that got to play in garbage time.
"It's always better for the home team in these situations, and the team that won the game," Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins said. "Not only were we physically down, we were probably down a little bit mentally, but I'm not making excuses for our group.
"We didn't play very well. We didn't shoot the ball very well. We missed a ton of layups."
After a classic Game 4, when the Thunder had chances to win at the end of regulation and each of the first two overtimes, Brooks said it was like "three wins in one."
It might have won them at least two.
The Grizzlies were a ragged bunch throughout the game after losing the triple-overtime thriller 133-123 on their home court and can only hope to get re-energized by returning to the FedEx Forum with their season on the line.
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