Grizzlies get even: Memphis stops Thunder in Game 2.
The Memphis Grizzlies wouldn’t let Kevin Durant come through in the clutch for the second straight time.
This was Mike Conley’s time to sparkle.
Conley scored 26 points and fueled a late Memphis run as the visiting Grizzlies beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 99-93 on Tuesday night to gain home-court advantage in the Western Conference semifinals.
Conley hit a threepointer from the left wing with 1:58 left to put the Grizzlies ahead to stay and spark a string of 10 straight Memphis points.
The Grizzlies head home for three of the next four games, with Game 3 on Saturday in Memphis.
“Mike Conley is now one of the top five point guards in the league, whether anybody likes it or not,” said Tony Allen, who had two of his five steals in the final minute.
In the first round, Conley outdueled AllStar Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers.
And now, he filled the late-game void the Grizzlies created when they traded away leading scorer Rudy Gay in the middle of the season.
After Conley’s goahead three, he added an 18-foot jumper to stretch the lead to 94-90, then hit one of two free throws with 29.4 seconds left. He finished with 10 rebounds and nine assists, one shy of a triple-double.
“He played like he had been playing all season, and we needed that,” coach Lionel Hollins said. “We needed to have somebody on the perimeter do something. He started getting to the basket a little bit and scored some big jump shots late.”
After hitting the key baskets in Game 1, Durant couldn’t provide an answer for the Thunder. He missed his last three shots, including a pair of three-point attempts, and finished with 36 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.
The Thunder caught a break when Allen tipped the ball away and Conley saved it from going out of bounds, only for it to end up in Durant’s hands in the corner. But Durant was off-target on a threepointer, and Oklahoma City was forced to foul.
Knicks 105, Pacers 79: Carmelo Anthony scored 32 points, 16 during a 30-2 New York onslaught in the second half, and the host Knicks evened the Eastern Conference semifinals at one game apiece. … “I think for the most part from the start of the game and throughout the whole game, I think we played with a sense of urgency today,” Anthony said. “We played the way we’ve been playing as far as competing at the highest level.” … Iman Shumpert added 15 points, including a sensational follow dunk in the first half, and Raymond Felton scored 14 as the Knicks turned a close game into a blowout over the final 15 minutes. … Paul George scored 20 points for the Pacers, who had a two-point lead and momentum when coach Frank Vogel called timeout with a little more than 3 minutes left in the third quarter. … By the time the Pacers got on the board in the final period, the Knicks had opened a 26-point advantage. … David West scored 13 points for the Pacers, who committed 21 turnovers that led to 32 points, negating their height advantage that loomed so large in their Game 1 victory. … Game 3 is Saturday at Indianapolis.
Briefly: The Suns hired Ryan McDonough as general manager. He replaces Larry Blanks, who was fired April 22. McDonough, 33, had been assistant general manager of the Celtics, a team he started with as a 23-year-old special assistant to basketball operations. … Police in Scottsdale, Ariz., are investigating Suns forward Michael Beasley in connection with an alleged sexual assault that took place Jan. 13.