The Memphis Grizzlies and Oklahoma City Thunder are playing game 1 of their western conference playoff series and the matchup is at Chesapeake Energy Arena and starts at 9:30 pm ET on ESPN and the game is streaming online from WatchESPN and comes as Kevin Durant is looking to lead his team to the title this year.
The Grizzlies ended up in the seventh spot after winning over the Dallas Mavericks in the last game of the season in a tough matchup and now they play against Oklahoma City in the first round. Durant is the likely MVP award winner this season and they come into the game after winning their final matchup of the season against the Detroit Pistons and that saw Kevin Durant score 42 points, while Russell Westbrook added eight assists and Serge Ibaka snagged 15 rebounds and the Grizz could give the Thunder a tough test this series despite being the seventh seed and OKC as the two seed.
The Thunder were the fifth ranked scoring team in the league and they have averaged over 106 points per game and they are 12th in points allowed with less than 100 per game. The team was ranked in the top 10 during the season in rebounds per game and the team was 13th in assists per game as well. Memphis has been one of the best defensive teams in the league and they ranked third in the league in scoring allowed with 94 points and they were 27th in scoring with 96 per game and they were ranked in the middle of the pack in both rebounds and assists per game.
The Grizzlies will be a man down, as Nick Calathes was suspended for 20 games after using a banned substance and they will be down a player and now the Thunder have the chance to play the postseason with Westbrook and Durant, as the point guard got injured early in the postseason last year. The Grizzlies won over the Thunder last season to get to the west finals and he has been playing very well since coming back from his injury and they will be the favored team in the series.
Durant will be the main focus for the Thunder, while Mike Conley will be the main option for the Grizzlies, especially with his backup out and the Grizz also will be relying hard on Zach Randolph. Kendrick Perkins will have his hands full with Z-Bo and both teams come into the playoffs hot and that should make it a great series. Memphis comes in having won five games in a row and the Thunder have lost two straight and while that doesn't always mean much in the playoffs it could play a factor in this series.
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