RANDOLPH, GRIZZLIES TRIUMPH OVER OKC
Grizzlies clamp down on Westbrook, OKC offense
Russell Westbrook has been an offensive tornado on a triple-double tear, forcing his way into the NBA Most Valuable Player conversation while trying to carry the Oklahoma City Thunder into the playoffs.
But he’s had nothing but trying times against the Grizzlies this season.
Looking as dialed in as they have been in weeks following a three-day break, the Griz earned a 100-92 victory by making it an uncomfortable Friday night for the Thunder’s offense in FedExForum.
Memphis’ defense forced Oklahoma City to take ill-advised and contested shots most of the night. The disruption was due in large part to containing Westbrook, who scored just six points on 1-of-11 shooting over the final three quarters.
Jeff Green not only led the Griz with 22 points but spent the most time defending Westbrook after the opening period.
Westbrook finished with a near triple-double (18 points, seven rebounds and seven assists) but shot
just 5 of 20 from the field.
“It had nothing to do with me. It was a team effort,” Green said. “My job was to stay in front of him and make every shot tough. As a team, we did a great job of crowding the paint and forcing tough shots.”
Oklahoma City was coming off a game in which it scored 131 points. The Griz, however, allowed just 40.9 percent shooting — one of the many aspects of the game they controlled.
Memphis also played at its pace and punished the Thunder inside, outscoring them 60-50 in the paint. Marc Gasol added 19 points, six rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots for the Grizzlies.
The Grizzlies’ defense led to easy offense in a game that had 11 ties and nine lead changes. Memphis took control for good with an 11-3 run after the score was tied at 66 with 4:28 left in the third quarter.
Leading 77-69 to start the fourth quarter, the Griz quickly established a double-digit lead. A Kosta Koufos layup off a feed from Mike Conley put the Griz ahead 83-72 with eight minutes left to play.
Oklahoma City trimmed Memphis’ lead to 92-88 with 1:45 remaining. Gasol scored on a midrange shot to extend the Grizzlies’ lead, and Westbrook helped the Grizzlies’ cause by continuing to misfire with Green harassing him.
Westbrook totaled 38 points and shot 9 for 31 in two previous meetings against the Griz this season.
“I thought Jeff did a nice job in that matchup, just using his length,” Griz coach Dave Joerger said about Green’s guarding Westbrook. “Jeff is one of the only guys who can get to and bother him at the rim. You don’t have to help as much. Once we got through the first quarter we went to it and gave (Westbrook) a different look.”
Thunder coach Scott Brooks lamented his team’s being lulled into the Grizzlies’ style of play.
“Our pace was a little choppy at times,” Brooks said. “Some of the shots that we got were good shots that didn’t fall for us and that sort of slowed our pace down.”
The Griz appeared to play out of character early on. They missed their first nine 3-point shots, and finished 4 of 21 from beyond the arc. In the end, though, the Grizzlies’ points in the paint were just six shy of their season high.
“When you’re forcing the opposing team to shoot tough shots, it allows us to get in transition and get easy (post-ups) for our big guys,” Green said.