Tonight at 9:30 p.m. ET the No. 2 seed Oklahoma City Thunder, led by the NBA's top scorer and likely MVP Kevin Durant, will host the No. 7 Memphis Grizzlies, who eliminated them from the postseason last year and play defense that might hinder KD. Watch the game on ESPN or live stream it free by clicking this link. Grizzlies fans can find the game on 92.9 ESPN Memphis, while Thunder fans can hear the radio broadcast on 98.1 WWLS.
Oklahoma City's loss last year has been blamed on an injury sustained in Round 1 to point guard Russell Westbrook, which knocked him out of the entire series. He's back this time, and the Thunder are plenty excited.
"It's huge because he's a great player, and we rely on him for a lot of what we do," OKC forward Nick Collison said. "I think it really hurt us last year for how sudden it was for him to be hurt, and we really didn't have much time to deal with it. I think we feel better about it this year, going in at full strength. He's one of our best players, one of our leaders, and we're much better off with him, that's for sure."
Westbrook's been rested periodically this year while he rounds into elite form, and enters play giving the Thunder 21.8 points and nearly seven assists per night. "He's one of the best players in the league," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. "His numbers are first- or second-team all-NBA numbers. Those are amazing numbers."
The point guard matchup is nothing to overlook, however, as Memphis' Mike Conley is being overshadowed. He averaged 17.2 ppg and 6.2 assists, and is looking forward to staring down Westbrook.
"You always want to test yourself and compete at a high level, so that's going to be a lot of fun and it's going to be a challenge," Conley said.
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