The Oklahoma City Thunder and Memphis Grizzlies played another overtime game in their NBA playoffs series and Thunder won by the score of 92-89 at the FedExForum for Game and now OKC has the series tied up at two on a night when Kevin Durant struggled hard.
Reggie Jackson needed to hit free throws with OKC up by one point with three seconds left in overtime and he hit both to keep the lead at three and the Grizzlies called a timeout. Kevin Durant was not at his best and Jackson was the leading scorer and catalyst for the Thunder off the bench and Mike Conley missed a three to end the game at the buzzer.
Kevin Durant was struggling in the game and the Thunder got some strong rebounding in overtime from Westbrook and Reggie Jackson has been the best player off the bench of OKC and he helped give the team possession with one minute left and down one point and he has stepped up with Durant missing shots all night. Durant tied up the game and then gave the team a one point lead on foul shots and the Grizzlies had the chance to take the lead and missed, giving OKC another chance to stay ahead and Westbrook gave the ball back to Conley and Memphis got another possession.
Kevin Durant struggled mightily during the game and was 4 for 20 coming into overtime, while the Thunder had a big lead of double digits and allowed the Grizzlies to come back and after the Grizz took a five point lead late, OKC came back and tied it up. On the final play of regulation the Thunder got a block and while Reggie Jackson had a career night, he blew a chance to win it at the end of the game, as he had at least two more dribbles and about four seconds on the clock when he heaved the final shoot at the buzzer of regulation in a panic and it fell well short to send the game into the extra period. Jackson later gave the team a one point lead in overtime with two free throws and he set career high marks in scoring on Saturday night.
Coming into overtime Jackson had 24 points and Russell Westbrook had six assists, while Marc Gasol was leading the Grizzlies with 23 points, Tony Allen had 11 rebounds, while Mike Conley had nine assists. Allen has been hounding Durant all night and he kept him off balance for the entire game and that left him struggling heading into the overtime period and with about 90 seconds left, Memphis held a one point lead. The Grizzlies outscored the thunder 28-16 in the fourth quarter to close the lead and that gave the team a chance to win the game.
The Miami Heat took a commanding lead in their series and they have yet to lose to the Charlotte Bobcats since LeBron James arrived and now they have one more game to advance to the next round. The team will likely play against the Brooklyn Nets next and the Spurs lost a heartbreaking game against the Mavericks and that saw Dallas win with a last second three point shot from Vince Carter and that gives the Mavs a 3-1 lead in that series as the eighth seed. Both number one seeds have struggled in the Spurs and the Pacers and both are in danger of getting upset.
Check here for the standings and scores for the NBA playoffs.
