Who would have thought the Memphis Grizzlies, not the #1 seeded San Antonio Spurs would have prevailed out of the first round of the NBA Playoffs? Probably not many.
The Grizzlies won game 1 on the Oklahoma City Thunder's home court by the score of 114-101.
The Thunder had huge games from their two big stars Russell Westbrook, and Kevin Durant. But when you give up 18 turnovers as a team, and also lose the rebounding aspect of the game, chances are you are not going to win.
The Grizzlies on the other hand had huge games from big men Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol, both of whom had double-doubles. But why are the Grizzlies just now playing so well? Memphis is getting huge production from everyone, period. With the defense from veterans Shane Battier and Tony Allen, to rebounding from Randolph and Gasol, everyone has been equally huge. Even point guard Mike Conley has really come into his own and become a very good distributor. The Grizzlies bench is even producing. Having a player like O.J. Mayo to come off the bench is huge. They are a real threat to beat the Thunder, but we'll have to wait and see.
If the Grizzlies do beat the Thunder, this could have a huge ripple effect for the reigning NBA Champions Los Angeles Lakers. How huge would it be for the Lakers to have the Memphis Grizzlies do the dirty work and beat the very talented Oklahoma City Thunder for them??? Yes, I know, it's very premature to even say the Lakers will beat the Mavericks in their 2nd round matchup, and also having the Grizzlies beating the Thunder after just seeing one game of the series so far....BUT, that could possibly be one of the easiest roads to an NBA championship for the Lakers, if it came to that. I'm sure the Lakers would much rather play the Grizzlies, rather than their playoff arch rival in the Thunder. I can see the Lakers licking their chops now.....only time will tell what will happen!
Noteable stats from Game 1:
Thunder: K. Durant-33 points, 11 rebounds. R. Westbrook-29 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists, and S. Ibaka-16 points, and 11 rebounds.
Grizzlies: Z. Randolph-34 points, and 10 rebounds. M. Gasol-20 points, and 13 rebounds. M. Conley-15 points, and 7 assists.
Grizzlies out rebounded 45-42. Grizzlies had more assists 21-16. Grizzlies had less turnovers 7-18. Grizzlies shot 49.4% compared to Thunder's 44.9%.
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