You won’t read this sentence too many times: The Oklahoma City Thunder lost at home, and so did the Chicago Bulls.
And you haven’t read this sentence in more than a year: The Bulls have now lost consecutive games.
While Kentucky predictably won the NCAA championship Monday night, it was a different story in the NBA.
The two best teams lost, both at home, and the playoff races got even tighter. Fasten your seat belts, because this is shaping up as a wild ride before the postseason arrives.
The Memphis Grizzlies have given the Oklahoma City Thunder fits all season long — and even before that. So should we be shocked at what happened last night?
The rivalry dates back to last season when the Grizzlies took three of the four meetings in the regular season by a total margin of 15 points before losing to the Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals, where the series went to a seventh game.
The series included a triple-overtime and a single-overtime game. Though it fizzled out by the seventh game with a convincing win for the Thunder, it turned out to be a gritty and compelling series that has spawned a rivalry.
The script had flipped this season, with the Thunder taking the first three meetings by a total margin of 15 points.
And then came Monday, with the Grizzlies making sure there would be no season sweep and no mental edge should the teams meet in the postseason again.
Despite playing without starting point guard Mike Conley, the Grizzlies showed their grit by coming up with key plays on both ends of the court to end the Thunder’s six-game winning streak and hand Oklahoma City only its fifth home loss of the season.
O.J. Mayo scored a game-high 22 points and hit timely shots, including a 3-pointer with 17 seconds left to seal the game. Russell Westbrook was limited to just five-of-16 shooting and committed five turnovers. Kevin Durant scored 21 points on 20 shots.
Afterward, the two teams acknowledged the toughness of the matchup.
From Michael Baldwin of The Oklahoman: “Memphis’ 94-88 win over the Thunder on Monday night reminded a Chesapeake Arena sellout crowd and national pundits the Grizzlies once again could be a handful in this year’s NBA playoffs… “They’re tough. We saw that firsthand last year with the guys they had, and they didn’t have Rudy Gay last year,” said Thunder star Kevin Durant. “They’re a tough, tough team.” Tough is the appropriate description. “Memphis is good,” said Thunder coach Scott Brooks. “They’re physical. They’re good inside, good outside. They have toughness and they defend. They lead the league in steals and forcing turnovers, scoring off turnovers and offensive rebounds.” That was the Grizzlies’ winning formula in last year’s playoffs and again Monday night. Memphis grabbed 14 offensive rebounds and scored 23 points off 18 OKC turnovers. Now that All-Star power forward Zach Randolph has returned from a knee injury that sidelined him three months, the Grizzlies have three weeks to build some momentum. One of the most physical post players in the league, Randolph can be a load. In last year’s Thunder/Grizzlies series, he averaged 23.8 points and 12.7 points. “We feel we match up pretty well with them,” Randolph said. “Every time we play, it’s two teams that compete really hard. If we played them again I would think it would be a real tough, drag-out series, probably go seven games like last year.”… “It’s a totally new season, totally different,” said Memphis coach Lionel Hollins. “The Thunder have been on top of their game from the start. Their defense has been outstanding. Their confidence as a team has grown so much that they find a way to win.”
Oklahoma City – the highest scoring team in the league – was held to its lowest scoring game since Jan. 21 when the Thunder scored just 84 points against the New Jersey Nets.
From Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: “The Grizzlies held the Thunder to a season-low two fast-break points to secure a 94-88 win inside Chesapeake Energy Arena and salvage a victory in the four-game regular season series. “We weren’t running the ball as (well) as we would have liked,” said Thunder coach Scott Brooks. “We had been on a nice running, transition streak. We’ve been very good in our transition … But they did a good job. They got back and they made us play in the half court.” Oklahoma City entered the game ranked sixth in fast-break points and had not scored fewer than five in any other game all year. At halftime, however, the Thunder still had not registered a transition bucket… Much of the problem was the Grizzlies’ superb ball security. Memphis turned it over only 10 times, preventing the Thunder from turning multiple mistakes into easy makes. “A lot of people think we just get the ball out and run,” said Kevin Durant. “But our fast-break points usually come off of us getting turnovers and playing defense. And tonight, they took care of the ball a little better.” The Thunder’s defense did its part, holding Memphis to 39.1 percent shooting and just 4-of-16 from behind the 3-point line. But as has been the case for much of the season, the two most problematic areas — turnovers and defensive rebounding — haunted the Thunder yet again. Oklahoma City had 18 turnovers leading to 23 Grizzlies points, and Memphis manhandled the Thunder on the glass early, using 10 first-half offensive rebounds to score 12 second-chance points to stay within two at halftime despite shooting just 30 percent.”
A team that may be every bit as good as the Grizzlies — or not quite good enough to make the playoffs — the Houston Rockets managed to beat the Bulls on their home floor to give Chicago its first two-game losing streak of the season.
From Jonathan Feigen of Houston Chronicle: “After 54 games, this win was the Rockets’ best. A case could be made for the comeback in Oklahoma City. It came later, all in the final minutes and at the end of a brutal five-game road trip when they lost Kyle Lowry and Kevin Martin. The win against the Lakers, from a 17-point deficit, gets in the conversation, with the Rockets finishing the game the way Kobe Bryant and the Lakers have against them so often. This one was better. This win is their best because it was a more thorough turnaround, under tougher circumstances. The Thunder were closer to full strength when the Rockets rallied past them last month. Thabo Sefolosha was out then, and Russell Westbrook lost his mind for a few key minutes, but that was still an outstanding comeback. The Bulls were without Derrick Rose again and they are a different team with last season’s MVP. But he has missed 21 games this season and they still came into the game with the league’s best record. They are especially tough at home. And they had not lost consecutive games since February, 2011, a streak of 86 games going into Monday’s that is the second longest in league history. The Rockets, who went to overtime the night before, were 1-9 in the second half of back-to-backs and by midway through the second quarter, trailed by 15… A look at the standings – they are just one game removed from the lottery – shows how vital every win will be, especially after dropping a home game on Sunday before a stretch of four on the road.”
Goran Dragic continued his remarkable run as the starting point guard with 21 points on eight-of-12 shooting, five assists and four steals, Luis Scola had 18 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, and Marcus Camby added 12 points and 11 rebounds. Courtney Lee scored 13 points including this dagger to cap the comeback victory.
And finally, two teams both the Grizzlies and the Rockets trailed before the start of the night played against each other in what turned out to be a lopsided victory for the Clippers, thanks to another solid shooting night from Randy Foye. Actually, it was more than just another solid shooting night.
From Broderick Turner of Los Angeles Times: “Right after Randy Foye made his Clippers-record-tying eighth three-pointer in the fourth quarter, and Dallas called a timeout because Foye had responded yet again to a small Mavericks run, DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin ran onto the court and grabbed their smiling teammate. They all had reasons to smile because Foye’s historic Monday night, on which he scored a season-high 28 points, pushed the Clippers to a 94-75 victory over the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. Foye was eight for 15 from three-point range, his makes tying the franchise record set by Quentin Richardson on Feb. 4, 2004, at Boston. “I’m just being aggressive,” Foye said. “That was my main thing, just to come and be aggressive.” Because Foye was so aggressive, because he was 10 for 19 from the field, the Clippers won their sixth consecutive game and won the three-game season series over the Mavericks, 2-1. That’s their longest winning streak since March 18-31, 1992. Since moving to Los Angeles in 1984, the Clippers now have had just four winning streaks of six games or more.”
The Clippers now have some breathing room at the fourth seed with a two-game lead over the Grizzlies. They have a night off before a showdown at Staples Center against the Lakers on Wednesday night on ESPN.
Elsewhere…
- The Bucks easily dispatched the lowly Wizards 112-98 and moved within two games of the eighth-seeded Knicks. Brandon Jennings scored 17 of his 19 points in the third quarter, Monta Ellis and Mike Dunleavy chipped in 17 points each, and Ersan Ilyasova had 16 points and 11 rebounds. Milwaukee plays its next five games at home against sub .500 teams before facing Oklahoma City and a showdown against New York.
- The Jazz capitalized on a couple of crucial turnovers by Raymond Felton down the stretch to defeat Portland at the Rose Garden Arena 102-97. Paul Millsap starred with 31 points and 11 rebounds, Al Jefferson had 13 points and 10 rebounds, Derrick Favors had 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Gordon Hayward added 20 points. It was the play of Jamaal Tinsley, however, that helped seal the game down stretch as he set up teammates and came up with a crucial steal against Felton with less than 30 seconds left in the game. Wesley Matthews scored a game-high 33 points and LaMarcus Aldridge had 27 points. Utah stayed one game behind Houston for the eighth seed.
- Just as Nikola Pekovic returned from a seven-game absence due to a bum ankle, the Timberwolves lost Luke Ridnour — likely for the remainder of the season — on a gruesome ankle sprain and suffered their third-consecutive loss against the Kings, 116-108. Tyreke Evans was all over the court with 24 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists while DeMarcus Cousins had 20 points and nine rebounds. Rookie of the month Isaiah Thomas had 17 points and five assists. Marcus Thornton left the game with a calf injury late in the first quarter after a violent crash with Ridnour, allowing Terrence Williams to showcase his talents with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Kevin Love had 23 points but played limited minutes due to foul trouble.
James Park is a regular contributor to Sheridanhoops.com. Follow him on twitter.