On the closing end of a back-to-back, the Oklahoma City Thunder took a trip to Memphis to take on the second-seeded Grizzlies.
From the opening whistle, it was all OKC. The Thunder won 125-112 but led by as many as 30 points in the third quarter. With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scoring 32 points and dishing out 8 assists and Aaron Wiggins dropping 26 points of his own, OKC’s firepower proved to be too much for the Grizzles, who were led in scoring by Desmond Bane, who had 20.
At this point of the season, it is hard to know which games matter in the long run and which ones don’t. With less than a week before the all-star break, it seems as if one team always has someone out with an injury, runs out of gas, or flat-out doesn’t bother to show up.
Lately, OKC has benefitted from the other team’s stars watching from the sideline. Whether it was Damian Lillard, Giannis Antentokumpo, RJ Barrett, Kevin Durant, or others, OKC has rarely faced a full-strength opponent.
Tonight, the roles were reversed.
OKC was without Chet Holmgren, Lu Dort and Cason Wallace, three players who figure to play crucial roles in not only the team’s regular season rotation but its playoff rotation as well.
Memphis had its full complement of stars and role players. Jaren Jackson Jr. and Ja Morant played big minutes and Desmond Bane returned from an injury that had sidelined him for the Grizzlies’ previous two games.
Despite OKC’s missing pieces, it won with ease. Outside of a run in the early fourth quarter, Memphis was never competitive.
Gilgeous-Alexander wasn’t as efficient as he normally is (31%), but he was aided by Wiggins, who continued the best scoring week of his professional career, and Jalen Williams, who scored 25 points on 60% shooting and was unstoppable in stretches.
OKC also dominated the offensive glass and was clearly the more physical team in a way that could be problematic for Memphis in a hypothetical playoff series.
For OKC to go into Memphis shorthanded and not only win but dominate is the rare February result that is telling in the NBA. With OKC’s status in the NBA, it will not waltz into an opposing arena and catch the other team sleeping very often. Jackson Jr. and Morant were frustrated with the physicality of the Thunder multiple times and that was without Dort pestering Morant and bending the rules of perimeter defense as much as he could.
Wallace and Dort are two more bodies to throw at Morant, but Holmgren’s addition would loom even larger in a playoff setting. His weak-side shot blocking and general rim protection are factors that one cannot overstate.
Long story short, OKC should feel good about this one.
With the all-star break rapidly approaching, tired legs, injuries to key players and a Darth Vader force choke-esque grip on the Western Conference’s top seed, OKC could’ve easily phoned it in and no one would’ve questioned it or batted an eye. Instead, it dominated one of the NBA’s best teams.
Wins over watered-down versions of Phoenix and Toronto are one thing, but going into the FedEx Forum and bullying the Grizzlies is another and OKC certainly accomplished the latter.
