Thunder defense tightens in fourth to stop Memphis
The Thunder made its life more difficult than it should have Sunday against a patchwork Memphis team. Whether the Grizzlies were hobbled or shorthanded, though, the Thunder's defense had a resurgence in the fourth quarter.
In the Thunder's 99-95 win on Sunday to snap a fourgame losing streak, OKC kept the Grizzlies to 6-of-21 shooting in the fourth. The Grizzlies scored just six points in the final 6:34.
Arguably the biggest possession came from Jerami Grant.
With the score tied 93-93, Grant was isolated against Memphis's Justin Holiday and forced him into a fadeaway jump shot, then pounced for the defensive rebound. The Thunder outrebounded Memphis 17-11 in the fourth quarter.
Grant's stop set up Russell
Westbrook's go-ahead jump shot with 32.9 seconds left.
The Thunder wasn't the only team playing on the second night of a back-toback. Memphis was coming off an 111-81 win in Dallas on Saturday. Both teams didn't have to play much of a fourth quarter on Saturday, the Thunder for different reasons, as San Antonio blew OKC out in the final 12 minutes. Memphis coach J.B.
Bickerstaff didn't call his first timeout until 6:44 was left in the third quarter. By that time, Thunder coach Billy Donovan had called five.
Donovan dipping into his timeouts early was an effort to snap the Thunder into focus. Twice in the first three quarters, the Thunder had baseline inbound passes stolen on plays where the concentration turned off momentarily.
"I thought there were some possessions maybe we were living in the previous possession," Donovan said. `We can't do that.
"You've got to be able to move to the next possession, the next play."
That focus was mostly present in the final 6½ minutes Sunday. The Thunder closed on a 23-6 run, spurred by defense.
Bench spark
Abdel Nader had 15 of the Thunder's 30 bench points Sunday, and led OKC in scoring through three quarters.
To get more offense on the floor, Donovan played Markieff
Morris at center toward the end of the third quarter. Morris (seven points) responded with a couple of long jump shots on consecutive possessions.
"I thought our bench overall with Abdel did a really good job," Donovan said. "They were really impactful on the game."
Tech watch
Westbrook said he was talking to himself. Official James
Capers thought otherwise. After Grant hit two free throws in the first quarter, Westbrook was docked with a technical foul. Westbrook is now up to 14 on the season. Sixteen technicals equals a fine and one-game suspension. Westbrook will have to tread lightly with 19 games remaining in the regular season.
Dennis Schroder and Memphis's Joakim Noah picked up double technical fouls in the third quarter.
New highs
With 22 rebounds, Steven
Adams finished one shy of matching his career high. Adams had 23 rebounds against Sacramento on Dec. 19, 2018. … Schroder set a career high with 12 rebounds. His previous career high in rebounds was nine against Detroit on Dec. 8, 2018.