The Thunder were going to need otherworldly performances out of Kevin Durant in every game they planned on winning against the Grizzlies in this series. And even then, there was no guarantee that victory would be theirs, considering the fact that they’d need at least one other person to step up and deliver an above average performance offensively to get the job done.
Without big numbers and a stellar overall performance from the team’s one remaining superstar, however, Oklahoma City was going to struggle. That ended up being the case in Game 4, as Durant finished 10-of-27 from the field while the Grizzlies came back from a 17-point first half deficit to get the 103-97 overtime victory.
Memphis now leads the best-of-seven series three games to one, and is just a single win away from a trip to the Conference finals.
Oklahoma City began the game by bringing the necessary intensity required to win a pivotal playoff game on the road, and jumped out to an 11-point lead at the end of the first quarter. Durant started by hitting two of his first three shots, and Serge Ibaka, who was much maligned after missing plenty of easy and open shots in Game 3 managed to come out strong with nine points in the opening period, on the way to 13 and 10 rebounds by halftime.
The Thunder looked poised to cruise in this one after getting out to that 17-point lead midway through the second quarter, but Memphis began its comeback by finishing the half on a 19-10 run to cut the OKC lead to single digits.
In the third quarter, the Thunder had briefly pushed their lead back to 12, and had it steady around seven or eight points for most of the period. But those final four-plus minutes were once again a killer, as the Grizzlies finished the period on a 13-4 run to tie the game heading into the fourth.
The final period was tight throughout, and this is where Durant simply couldn’t do enough to get his team over the hump. He had eight shot attempts in the period -- as many as the rest of his teammates combined -- and connected on only two. One of them was huge, however, coming on a drive and a scoop with the Thunder down two and six seconds remaining to tie the game and send it to an overtime session.
Once overtime began, the Thunder couldn’t hit a shot. Durant was 0-for-5 in the five minute extra frame, and the team was just 1-of-8.
The Grizzlies got big nights out of both Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol, and got enough out of Mike Conley, who finished with a team high 24 points despite his 7-of-21 shooting. But just like every other game in this series, the losing team had their chances to win it in the game’s final few minutes.
It was a fantastic win for Memphis, in what is becoming an increasingly more impressive run through these playoffs. On the Thunder side, Durant just couldn’t do enough on this night to drag his team over the finish line.