The Memphis Grizzlies and Oklahoma City Thunder have a few things in accordance. They both took down their first-round opponents in six games, and they both did so in amazing style. The Thunder expunged James Harden and the Houston Rockets, 103-94, and Lob City was taken down by the Grizzlies, 118-105. After these two commonalities the similarities between your two teams end. Although the Grizzlies possess the growing season series, 2-1, within the Thunder, that means practically nothing now that Russell Westbrook is seeing activities rather than owning them. Without Westbrook, Kevin Durant is left as the only star in Oklahoma City. Sure, he has encouraging people like Serge Ibaka, Kevin Martin and Derek Fisher, nevertheless when the rubber meets the road, Durant is their main man. The Grizzlies, on another hand, really are a "star power by committee" type of team. They can defeat you in the paint with their twin towers, Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol, or on the border with Mike Conley and Tony Allen they can burn off you. Both are theoretically small-market teams, nevertheless you can claim that the Thunder have significantly more star energy with Durant running the show. In his three games without Westbrook, Durant is averaging 35.3 details, 10 rebounds and 5.3 helps per game, while shooting 55.4 per cent from the area. The sole problem is that Durant set up that generation playing from the Rockets, who happen to give up the 28th-most points per game having an average of 102.5 points per game. While Francisco Garcia covered him such as a blanket for a majority of the games, Durant may meet a whole other creature when he comes up against Tony Allen and Tayshaun Prince. As well as the person defense the Grizzlies will put at Durant, Memphis also plays much, much better team defense than the Rockets, this means the Thunder won't be getting as many available edge jumpers as they did against James Harden and his defense-less team. I am not saying that the Thunder are not a much better group compared to Grizzlies, since even without Westbrook they have enough ability to take on them. The difference, however, is that instead of Durant battling against a single player, he will really be battling against a whole team because the Grizzlies play team baseball as well as anybody in the NBA. While their series was closed out by both teams, there's undoubtedly that the Grizzlies have a little more impetus after winning four straight games to top the Clippers. Traveling to a raucous OKC audience will definitely minimize that momentum, but whilst the Grizzlies showed they could gain on the highway. Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka aren't a weak frontcourt by any stretch of the imagination, but they do not even compare when you stack them facing the likes of Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph. Having an important benefit in the color will benefit the Grizzlies emensly on both sides of the ball, and it'll permit them to regulate the rate of the sport and slow the Thunder's change crime down. Yet another significant benefit the Grizzlies have over the Thunder is their power to win via well-balanced production. Take Game 6 against the Clippers for instance. The Grizzlies had eight of the seven people in double digitsa'Mike Conley (23), Zach Randolph (23), Tony Allen (19), Jerryd Bayless (18), Tayshaun Prince (11), Marc Gasol (10) and Quincy Pondexter (10). The Grizzlies could beat you from anywhere on to the floor, and without Westbrook, the Thunder don't have that luxury. Rather than wanting to balance their generation, the Thunder are required to get Durant the ball and let him develop his teammates with penetration and offense for himself. Is he capable of dominating the Grizzlies and losing 40-plus points? Undoubtedly, but the question then becomes who on the Thunder will take the rest of the responsibility. With the Grizzlies you will find seven or eight players who is able to add important creation. While people like Kevin Martin and Reggie Jackson appeared in Game 6 for the Thunder, it'll not be nearly as easy to score playing against the team that offers up the points per game, having an average of just 89.3 points. You have undoubtedly heard the motto "defense wins championships." Well, it's true, and in this instance it actually appears right like thisa'"defense wins second-round playoff series." Using their impetus from a prominent four-game stretch against the Clippers, the Grizzlies come in the driver seat against the Thunder. They've all the impetus and they're not struggling with any injuries. Furthermore to that, the Grizzlies are a group that loves to play real basketball, and they're definitely not built to play that way, while the Thunder could bang with the very best of them. Men like Tony Allen, Zach Randolph and Keyon Dooling will bother the Thunder and get under their skin. That is where we'll see just what type of chief Kevin Durant truly is. Durant and the Thunder have much more to get rid of in this series, and that places them at when the series tips about Sunday a disadvantage. Like they say in tennisa'"advantage, Memphis."
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