The Oklahoma City Thunder prevailed in Memphis, albeit it was perhaps closer than it would have liked. Never undervalue the opposition.
The Memphis Grizzlies arrived to play against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night, despite having an unimpressive 2023–24 season overall—let alone playing without their best player, Ja Morant, for the majority of it. Nevertheless, the Thunder prevailed 118–112 after barely holding off their opponent.
Although Oklahoma City didn’t win many games by a large margin, it maintained its composure long enough to fend off an aggressive Grizzlies team.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, and Jalen Williams all in form
It had to work hard for an ugly victory, but winning the rebounding battle and taking advantage of several critical forced turnovers was sufficient.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, and Jalen Williams scored 63 points between them as a trio, each enjoying a productive scoring night that propelled Oklahoma City to victory. It’s difficult to beat the three when they’re all playing at the same tempo and clicking together, as they demonstrated throughout the competition.
shai gilgeous-alexander in action
Memphis did give Oklahoma City some concerns in the closing minutes of the game by making some fast shots and forcing them to foul. To ensure that its rivals couldn’t steal a victory in the final seconds, the Thunder made sure to take advantage of those opportunities just enough.
There was a lot of back-and-forth play in the first quarter, with Holmgren leading the way with seven points on perfect shooting. Even though they had far inferior field goal percentage, the Grizzlies managed to maintain a close quarter from the free-throw line.
Thunder have a thunderous 2nd half
Williams led Oklahoma City for the most of the second quarter and finished the first half with 12 points, five rebounds, four assists, one steal, and two blocks. He made several excellent looks, one of which was the pull-up jumper that gave the Thunder a two-point lead at the end of the half (56–54).
In contrast to his typical team-leading output, Gilgeous-Alexander had a somewhat quiet first half, scoring just 10 points. Nevertheless, the Oklahoma City offense managed to have a productive game and maintained a close game with Memphis.
The Grizzlies called a timeout as soon as the Thunder launched a 6-0 scoring run to start the second half, giving it the much-needed boost. But that lead was soon evaporated as Memphis rallied to cut the deficit to one point at the 6:40 mark.
But Oklahoma City was back, bigger and stronger than ever. It continued its 9-0 run, giving it a 91-78 advantage going into the fourth quarter. Nevertheless, the Grizzlies were not about to give up just yet. They began the fourth quarter on an 8-0 surge that quickly altered the entire perception of the game.
