Memphis Grizzlies (0-1) at Oklahoma City Thunder (1-0)
It’s been said so many times that it no longer needs repeating, but we’ll do it anyway:
Western Conference
Tuesday, May 7
Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City
9:30 p.m. EST
Spread – Thunder -2.5
O/U – 186
In the NBA, teams with the best player almost always beat teams that have balance. It may suck, especially if you haven’t got that player, but it’s a star-driven league and the stars put money in the wallets of owners. So don’t expect that to change anytime soon.
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That’s the problem facing the visiting Memphis Grizzlies, who tonight must deal again with Kevin Durant’s Oklahoma City Thunder. OKC rallied late in Game 1 and now look to take a 2-0 edge in their Western Conference playoff series.
The Grizzlies basically had a pillow on the Thunder’s face late in Game 1, but the final two points of Durant’s 35-point game were the margin of victory. It didn’t help that Memphis thought it might be a good idea to turn over the ball twice in the final 18 seconds, but that falls into the if and buts/berries and nut category.
“It was a game that I think that we all think we should’ve won,” Memphis forward Quincy Pondexter said. “We were right there in it and they really did a great job of executing down the stretch.”
That the Grizz didn’t win the game now makes Game 2 all that more important as Memphis faces the uncomfortable reality that a loss tonight would mean that it would have to find a way to take four of five against an OKC team that didn’t go 1-4 in any 5-game stretch during the entire regular season. [ad-6571516]
Still, Memphis can be encouraged that it was able to hang with the Thunder until the final stages of Game 1. Marc Gasol (20 and 10) was solid, as was Zach Randolph (18 and 10). The Grizzlies held the Thunder to 41 percent shooting from the field, no small feat in any game played at OKC. And Memphis flat outplayed the Thunder through three periods in building a 9-point lead.
But OKC also has to be feeling pretty good today. The Thunder played less than their best and still won, and Memphis’s expected edge on the boards never materialized. In fact, OKC actually had a slight rebounding advantage.
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Oddsmakers have been taking over players for rides on Thunder games for the past three weeks. OKC games went under in the final three games of the regular season, and during the playoffs the over is 1-6 as bettors consistently forget that defenses tighten up in the post-season.
Also, Memphis’s only shot in this series is to win ugly, and the chances of a full-throttle game involving the Grizzlies is next to nil. Liking yet another under play in this one. Side bettors could do worse than an OKC play.
