Oklahoma City Thunder

Grizzlies stay hot, shock Thunder in Game 1

OKLAHOMA CITY - Zach Randolph had 34 points and 10 rebounds, Marc Gasol added 20 points and 13 boards, and the Memphis Grizzlies overpowered the Oklahoma City Thunder inside for a 114-101 victory in the opening game of the Western Conference semifinals on Sunday.

Just as they did in a first-round upset of top-seeded San Antonio, Randolph and Gasol provided enough punch to give eighth-seeded Memphis a road victory in Game 1.

Randolph and Gasol each scored 20 points in the same regular-season game only once this season, but did it in Game 1 against the Spurs and again to negate the Thunder's home-court advantage right from the start.

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 33 points and 11 rebounds. Russell Westbrook scored 29, but the All-Star tandem couldn't overcome a big advantage in the paint for Memphis

The Grizzlies, the NBA's most productive team in the paint with a 51.5-point average, racked up 52 against the Thunder, who had bolstered their interior defense with their trade deadline pickup of Kendrick Perkins from Boston.

That move allowed Serge Ibaka — the league's top shot blocker — to move from center to power forward and give Oklahoma City two top defenders inside. It still wasn't good enough against a front line that helped Memphis win three of four from the Thunder in the regular season.

The Grizzlies let a 16-point lead dwindle to three in the opening minutes of the second half, then regained control with a big charge at the end of the third quarter. Shane Battier hit a 3-pointer from the right wing when Oklahoma City failed to get back in transition, and Gasol added three straight jumpers — the last one coming at the start of the fourth quarter to make it 86-71.

The advantage reached 91-74 when Battier followed O.J. Mayo's 3-pointer with a layup with 10:22 left.

Scott Brooks called timeout and got Durant back in the game, and the NBA's scoring champion immediately hit a 3-pointer to stop the bleeding.

He added a putback on Westbrook's miss and Ibaka had a two-handed slam as Oklahoma City rallied with nine straight points to get within 93-86 after Westbrook's driving jumper with 7:09 remaining.

Mike Conley stopped the comeback with a floater in the lane, and Memphis scored five straight points to bump the lead up to 100-88 after Randolph's jumper with 4:26 left.

The Grizzlies closed it out with 12 free throws in the final 3 minutes.

Ibaka added 16 points and 11 rebounds for Oklahoma City.

Randolph scored Memphis' first seven points to stake his team to an early lead, and the Grizzlies started creating some distance with a 17-5 run early in the second quarter. Darrell Arthur's jumper, Sam Young's putback and Randolph's jumper provided the final six points for a 45-32 edge midway through the second quarter.

Randolph extended the Grizzlies' lead to 54-38 when he answered Durant's two-handed alley-oop slam with a 3-pointer from the left wing — Memphis' only 3 in the first half.

Oklahoma City cut the lead to 10 by halftime by scoring seven of its last nine points at the foul line, then Durant hit a 3-pointer in the middle of a 7-0 burst that got the Thunder within 61-58 early in the third quarter.

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/42849645/ns/sports-nba/


Ibaka's impact hidden bonus in Thunder's big trade

OKLAHOMA CITY — When the Oklahoma City Thunder brought Serge Ibaka to the United States, all they asked of him was to play defense and provide energy off the bench.

Now, he's giving them so much more.

The hidden bonus of Oklahoma City's deal for Kendrick Perkins at the trade deadline was sliding Ibaka into Jeff Green's vacated spot at power forward. He has excelled, becoming even more of a shot-blocking force and developing some scoring punch, too.

In a sensational first-round series against Denver, Ibaka provided three double-doubles, scored a career-high 22 points in his first road playoff start and punctuated his performance with a franchise postseason record nine blocks in the clinching Game 5 win.

"There's really nobody in the league that can affect the game like that, get nine blocks like that and do the stuff that he can do offensively, too," said Nick Collison, the veteran forward who's now his backup.

While Kevin Durant was stealing the show with a final offensive flurry, Ibaka played just as crucial a role at the other end to help Oklahoma City eliminate a nine-point deficit in the final 4 minutes and send the Nuggets home.

The Thunder had fallen behind 91-82 by allowing Denver a series of layups and free throws that were earned by getting to the rim. Once Ibaka returned, the Nuggets got only one basket in the last 4 minutes, and even that came on a tip-in of a miss.

The most important of his blocks — two more than any Seattle or Oklahoma City player had ever had in the playoffs — came on a dunk attempt by Nene that would have given Denver the lead with 35 seconds left.

"We love Serge," coach Scott Brooks said. "Our guys get excited about what he does. Our team is about work and Serge is a worker. He works every day.

"He doesn't want anything, and he wouldn't take it. He wants to earn it."

Ibaka was the 24th pick in the 2008 draft — when All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook also joined the team as the No. 4 pick — but he stayed in Europe to keep developing. He joined Oklahoma City last season as a reserve center and spent most of his time in that role before the Thunder added Perkins and fellow center Nazr Mohammed in February.

That allowed Ibaka to move into a more natural position, where he averaged 3.3 blocks from March to the end of the regular season. He blocked 24 shots in the five games against Denver.

Ibaka's work on offense was on display last week, when he engaged in a competition against guard James Harden after the main part of a playoff practice was over.

Harden stood a step behind the 3-point line and Ibaka was one step inside, and the two set off on an alternate version of "Around the World." Ibaka would take a long jumper and Harden would fire a 3-pointer. If both made it, or missed it, they'd shoot again. If one connected and the other didn't, there was a winner.

Moving along the arc from one corner to the other, Ibaka — better known as the NBA's leader in blocks this season, and a competitor in the dunk contest — got the best of Harden.

Ibaka's broadened game proved crucial when he hit jumper after jumper in his 22-point performance in Denver that provided Oklahoma City a commanding 3-0 series lead.

"People just knew me before as Serge Ibaka, an energy player," he said. "Now, people are surprised at how I shoot the ball."

It's only fitting that Ibaka has become such a multitalented player. He's speaks Spanish and is learning English — doing interviews in both languages after Game 5 — and also is fluent in French and a language native to his homeland, the Republic of Congo.

He even has the most nicknames on the team: "I-block-a" and "Serge Protector," for his shot-blocking prowess, and "Air Congo," to go along with his post-dunk habit of stretching his arms out like wings.

There's no question he can fly. The winner of a European dunk title, the 6-foot-10 Ibaka took off from the foul line for one of his slams in this year's dunk contest during All-Star weekend.

Denver coach George Karl said he used to compare Ibaka to Shawn Kemp, the six-time All-Star who helped Seattle to the NBA finals in the 1990s but "he's shooting a lot of jump shots now and he's making them."

So, what makes Ibaka so special?

"Speed and power," Karl said. "You usually have one or the other. You usually don't have both."

After Denver's last-second attempt at a 3-pointer to tie Game 5 was off target, Ibaka went bounding across the court, thumping his chest and giving out celebratory hugs.

There could be many more ahead for the 21-year-old just wrapping up his second season in the NBA.

"It's work and confidence," Ibaka said. "I have confidence in my teammates, my coaches and I try to work every day to do my best possible.

"I will keep just working every day, and we'll see the future."

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/2011-04-28-423902442_x.htm

Related searches:
oklahoma, boston celtics, memphis, kevin durant, thunder