The Oklahoma City Thunder were coming into this game as one of the hottest teams in the NBA. The Thunder were able to manage a 4 game winning streak and Memphis was one of those teams apart of it. The Memphis Grizzlies came into this game wanting revenge as they blew a 24 point lead to the Thunder last week. This was a weird game as both the Grizzlies and Thunder played a little sloppy on the offensive end. Tonight the Thunder had 4 scorers in double figures but they weren’t able to get anything going in crucial moments in the game. Every time the Thunder made a run to try and get close to the Grizzlies it seemed as though Jackson Jr or Valanciunas hit a tough shot. The Thunder were struggling in the paint defensively tonight as they allowed 66 points. Both Jaren Jackson Jr and Jonas Valanciunas had their inside game working tonight as both combined for 41 points on the night. Jaren Jackson had an impressive night and he’s been showing off some range as he was able to connect on a couple of 3 pointers. Jaren showed that he can score inside and out tonight as he had a mix of Darius Bazley and Mike Muscala guarding him. Jaren Jackson Jr’s still young and he was able to make some plays in the open court that veterans make especially at that size. The other player that was dominating in the paint tonight for the Memphis Grizzlies was Jonas Valanciunas as he was able to battle it out with Steven Adams. It seemed as though Jonas got the best of Steven Adams tonight in this matchup because his team won. Jonas was able to get a lot of second-chance points on the offensive end which helped the Grizzlies keep a lead throughout the game. Ja Morant had a quiet night and for a team like this that usually depends on the ROTY, they held their own. Morant finished with 10 points on the night as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was making it tough on him all night. The length of Shai was able to limit Morant going to the basket and getting open looks at the rim. The Thunder defended Morant as good as you can on the night and made the other’s beat them and the others actually came through. The Grizzlies had 5 players that were in double figures on the night and they had a lot of momentum in crunch time moments. The Grizzlies bench stepped up big in this as the Thunder were caught playing catchup all night instead of heading to their 5th straight win.
The Thunder weren’t able to get off to the start that they needed to get this win. Interior defense was the big problem for the night as the Thunder gave up 66 points to the Grizzlies in the paint. The Grizzlies bigs set the tone in this one as the Thunder were fighting for a chance to get back in the game. The Grizzlies had a 20 point lead in this one and it was a little to late for the comeback this time. Chris Paul was the leading scorer for the Thunder tonight with 23 points and 11 assists. CP3 was able to get open on a lot of pick and pops with Steven Adams. It was clear that Chris Paul and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander were able to take advantage of Ja Morant’s bad game. Chris Paul was trying to do everything he can to get the Thunder back in this game but the Grizzlies were able to hit some tough shots. Shai on the other hand was able to affect the game on the defensive and offensive end. Shai finished the game with 21 points and was able to use his crafty layups and his aggressiveness to get to that point total. It’s only Shai’s second year in the NBA but he plays like a 10 year veteran. Tonight Shai made some tough shots over Dillion Brooks who was guarding him and it didn’t matter who was in front of him he wanted to score. Dennis Schröder also showed up tonight as he finished with 20 points on the night. The Thunder three-headed guard monsters were able to get their points in but when the other guys don’t step up it doesn’t turn out good. It seemed as though in the second half the Grizzlies were trying to make others beat them the way they sagged off. The Thunder had a tough loss tonight that put them back to .500 on the season. The Thunder will be looking to bounce back tomorrow night in Charolette as they look for their 16th win on the year. The Thunder will need to defend better tomorrow night as they will need to defend Graham and Rozier.
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