The Memphis Grizzlies and Oklahoma City Thunder are playing live on the NBA playoffs schedule and the game from Chesapeake Energy Arena will be streaming online from TNT overtime on TV and has Kevin Durant looking to give his team a 2-0 series lead in the western conference as OKC has their second home game and the matchup starts at 8 pm ET on Monday.
Oklahoma City looked very strong in the west this season and they had a lead of 25 points that eventually went down against the Grizz and the Thunder hung on for a 100-86 victory in game 1 and now the team will try and start off with two straight home wins. Last season the team lost Russell Westbrook in their second game of the playoffs against the Rockets and he was done for the postseason and now they have their point guard and Durant playing at the top of their game and that will make it even harder for Memphis to get their footing.
The Grizzlies are a very good team defensively, but they don't have anyone that can score like Durant and that means they have to shut him down at all costs. The team is down a man with Mike Conley's backup suspended for 20 games and that will make things tougher, while the return of Marc Gasol has made the center and Zach Randolph a tough duo, but they can only do so much and now the Thunder have the chance to take a commanding lead. The third quarter of the game on Saturday was tough and Memphis came back into the fourth but they couldn't keep up with the hot scoring of Durant.
Randolph led the Grizzlies in scoring in the game with over 20 points , but Durant was better and had 30 and seven assists and that left Westbrook to put up 10 boards and now the team looks prepared to keep going and winning at home. Durant looks like he will be the MVP this year and it comes as Westbrook missed time during the season and OKC comes into the playoffs after averaging over 106 points per game and they were also 12th in points allowed this season and they kept that to under 100 points per game. The team was strong in other areas as well, putting up the seventh best rebounds per game and they also were 13th in assists per game.
Memphis is a fierce defensive team and that is how they pulled the upset in the playoffs last season, but his time the team has Westbrook back and even though they are ranked third in the NBA, they will have a tough time dealing with things on Tuesday night. The game on TNT is part of a doubleheader and in the late game the LA Clippers will try and get back into their groove after losing Game 1 and that was at home. Memphis ranks 27th durign the regular season in scoring and that gives the team some trouble against the Thunder and they will have to find ways to score to keep up. Kevin Durant holds the key and if Memphis can hold him back, they will have a chance to win and if not, OKC will get the victory.
Check here for the Memphis and Oklahoma City Thunder live coverage from the NBA on TNT stream.