Tonight at 9:00 p.m. ET the West's second-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder will host the warrior-like No. 7 Memphis Grizzlies in a pivotal Game 5 of a back-and-forth first round matchup. Watch tonight's action on NBA TV or live stream it by clicking this link. Thunder fans can listen to the game on WWLS 98.1 while Grizzlies fans can catch the radio broadcast on 92.9 ESPN Memphis.
The storyline of this series has been Memphis' disruption of Kevin Durant's nearly flawless offensive game. In OKC's Game 4 victory, reserve guard Reggie Jackson exploded for over 30 points, bailing out Durant for his 5-of-21, 15-point outing. He's been hounded by Tony Allen all series, while his partner-in-crime Russell Westbrook has had issues as well.
"They're doing an amazing job," Westbrook said. "I don't think they're getting the credit they deserve. I think a lot of the attention is on Kevin (Durant) and myself, but I think they're doing a great job of defending those bigs, which is tough to do."
When Westbrook says they, he means Thunder big men Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins. Zach Randolph in particular has had problems in the paint, averaging 18.3 points and 8.5 rebounds for the series while shooting a meager 36 percent, a full 10 percentage points less than his season average.
When asked how he will rise from his current rut, Randolph simply said "Just keep on being me, keep playing." Memphis point guard Mike Conley offered up a bit more tactical of a solution to getting Z-Bo going.
"We've got to try to get some motion with the ball movement from side to side, so when the ball does come back to him, he gets the ball at a better position closer to the basket," Conley said. "I think he's been too far out having to work too hard to get to his spot."
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