Oklahoma City, OK

Mike Conley was one assist shy of a triple double in fueling Memphis Grizzlies past the Oklahoma City Thunder 99-93 at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City.

He had 26 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists and shot 11 out of 22 in the 3-point area.

Marc Gasol had 24 points, five rebounds and five assists.

Zach Randolph ended up with 15 points and eight rebounds and Tony Allen had 12 points and five steals for the Grizzlies who now tied their Western Conference semifinals series 1-1 and gained homecourt advantage.

Neither team led by more than seven in the game.

The Grizzlies quickly overcame a 74-69 Thunder lead at the start of the fourth quarter with a 9-2 burst finished off by Conley's transition layup following an Allen steal.

Durant put the Thunder ahead 88-86 with a three-point play, only for Gasol to answer right back with a three-point play.

Kendrick Perkins provided the Thunder its last lead with two free throws with 2:41 to play.

Conley's 3-point shot from the left wing with 1:58 left sparked a string of 10 straight Grizzzlies points, with the Thunder coming up empty on five straight possessions.

Durant was off-target on a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left.

Randolph added two free throws with 13.7 seconds left, and Allen then stepped in front of Durant to steal a pass and provide the finishing touches with a dunk for a 99-90 lead. 

Memphis piled up a 48-30 scoring advantage in the paint and also outscored Oklahoma City 23-6 in second-chance points and 18-7 on the fast break.

The Grizzlies also scored 29 points off 21 turnovers by the Thunder, who had just 10 in Game 1.

Kevin Durant couldn't provide an answer for the Thunder, missing his last three shots, including a pair of 3-point attempts, and finished with 36 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.

Fisher had 19 points for the Thunder, making 4 of 5 3-point attempts. Kevin Martin, coming off back-to-back 25-point games, scored six on 2-for-11 shooting.

With fellow All-Star Russell Westbrook out for the rest of the playoffs following knee surgery, the load once again fell squarely on his shoulders.

"I can carry as much as coach needs me to carry," Durant said. "I made those shots last game. I missed them this game. I'm just going to continue to keep taking them." 

 

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