The most exciting first round series of the NBA Playoffs has undoubtedly been the wild, overtime-laden affair between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Memphis Grizzlies. Game 5 Tuesday night saw the fourth consecutive overtime game in the series — an NBA record — which Memphis won, 100-99. Officially, the matchup is a #7 seed versus a #2 seed, but that is somewhat misleading, as the #2 through #7 seeds in the stacked Western Conference all finished somewhere in the 50-to-59 win range.
Memphis’ 50 wins is an impressive accomplishment considering Marc Gasol missed 23 games mid-season, while the team was also adapting to a new head coach. Meanwhile, OKC’s record is nothing to scoff at either, considering Kevin Durant had to carry them while Westbrook missed a huge chunk of the season as well. Still, Memphis is a team that can’t ride a superstar scorer who can drop 40 points on a given night. Their offense relies on an inside-outside game utilizing Gasol and Zach Randolph.
Yes, injuries are a part of the game, as we saw with the two teams in this series. But, one has to think a full season of a healthy Gasol is worth four or five more wins. In reality, Memphis plays at the level of a #2 or #3 seed, but thanks to a key injury and a brutal conference, they have to go on the road to prove themselves. And they’ve done exactly that.
The Grizzlies have won two games in arguably the NBA’s toughest atmospheres, Chesapeake Arena. Both wins came in overtime, and after agonizing missed opportunities to close out in regulation. While their resilience may surprise some, anyone who’s paid attention over the last four playoffs knows that this is what we should expect when these two teams face off.
The Grizzlies and Thunder first faced each other in the second round of the 2011 playoffs. The Grizz had just upset the #1 seed Spurs, and a young Thunder squad was just finding its playoff footing after a first round exit the year before. The series was exciting in the fact it went a full seven games, but only two games were decided by single digits, so it didn’t exactly rival the intensity of this current edition.
The teams met again last spring, also in the Western Conference semifinals, but the Thunder were without Russell Westbrook, who went down with a knee injury in the first round. Still, Durant willed them to a 93-91 Game 1 win, putting up 35 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. It was the only victory for OKC in the series, as Memphis’ grinding style was too much for Durant to overcome on his own.
However, each game was close enough that it provided an image of what a rematch — with both teams at full health — might look like. And that’s where we are now. Three years ago, each game in the 7-game series was decided by an average of 13 points. Last season, 4.8 points. This current barn burner: 5.4 points, but only because of a 14-point outlier in Game 1. The last three games have been decided by three or less, and the first overtime game ended up being a six-point margin.
Alas, while it’s been beautiful to watch, it’s somewhat bittersweet for anyone living in the Northwest. The Grizzlies and Thunder currently play in cities that are about seven hours apart. What people forget is that they used to play in cities that were about three hours apart: Vancouver and Seattle. In addition, the Vancouver Grizzlies, Seattle Supersonics and Portland Trailblazers were all within a six-hour drive of each other, along an interstate corridor that had potential to be a three-way I-5 Rivalry. Except it never happened.
While the Sonics and Blazers had existed for decades, they rarely crossed paths in the playoffs, making the original I-5 Rivalry mostly a regular season affair. The Grizzlies came along in 1995 to shake up Northwest allegiances, but never quite found their place. After six seasons, the Grizzlies packed up and moved to Memphis. Seven years later, the Sonics moved to, well, you know where — leaving Portland as the lone NBA outpost in the Northwest.
Today, Portland is a surprising #5 seed, and in good position to make the conference semifinals. Memphis is now a member of the NBA’s Southwest division, the toughest in the league (another contributing factor to their record), while OKC has dominated the Northwest Division.
Obviously, the Blazers are a known quantity, and nobody could possibly project the Sonics and Grizzlies’ situation had they stayed put. But it’s tough not to think about when all three are playing at such a high level, in the most intense playoffs in years.
