Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points and Jalen Williams had 26 to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to an unlikely and record victory of 114-108 over the Mephis Grizzlies to take a 3-0 advantage in his first round series of the West Conference.
Chet Holmgren scored 23 of his 24 points in the second half on Thursday night when the Thunder exceeded a deficit of 29 points in the first half. Oklahoma City did not lead in the game until Williams fell into a free kick with 1:20 remaining to move forward 109-108.
Holmgren added two free throws with 57.4 seconds and Alex Caruso scored on a separatist tray with 19.4 seconds for the end. The Grizzlies did not score at the last 4:51.
“We, the son of reconnecting with who we are (in the second half),” said the coach of the city of Oklahoma, Mark Daigneault.
“We were very out of place in the first half, and some of that had to do how well Memphis played and the way he landed the first blow and multiple blows after that. So they attribute to him. But I thought no, heard, heard, heard, or game, game, game, game, game, game, game, game that is a great game.”
Memphis played Morant without the second half after suffering a hip injury at the end of the first half. Scotty Pips JR scored 28 points to lead the Grizzlies. Years Jackson Jr added 22.
Morant had 15 points and five assists in 15 minutes before the injury. He was diagnosed with a contusion of left hip. Without Morant, the Grizzlies were surpassed by 63-31 in the second half.
Morant left the game with 3:14 to go in the second quarter after falling strongly on his left side while flying for a tray in a fast break. Morant was undermined by Luguentz Dort in the work. The limited limited to the lateral line after spending several minutes on the floor assisted by the Grizzlies training personnel.
Morant returned to the court to drink two free throws, which was lost, before being helped to the costumes.
Memphis’s interim coach, Tuomas Iisalo, said after the game that Morant would be evaluated on Friday, “and then we will know more.”
Memphis left the unpleasant defeats in the first two games of the series in Oklahoma City, for 51 points in game 1 and 19 in game 2, but played with a renewed vigor in its opening of playoffs at home.
Below 26, the Thunder doubled the Grizzlies 36-18 in the third quarter. In the middle of the period, Oklahoma City cut the advantage to 10 points, mainly behind Holmgren. The 7 -foot striker had 16 points. A triple of Williams when the fourth ended reduced the thunder deficit to 95-87.
“I give a lot of credit to Chet because Hey had a point halfway,” said Daigneault. “I had a very, very quiet and moderate first half. And then the mental hardness to stay in it … was really impressive. And he also did a good defensive job.”
The Grizzlies built a two -digit advantage in the first quarter. The catalyst was Pips, which had four of the eight triples of the team in the room. The Grizzlies led by 12 points three times at the end of the period.
The Grizzlies extended their advantage to 28 points (65-37) in the middle of the second quarter after a 25-5 race that included 16 consecutive points. Morant scored nine points. The advantage extended to 29 points to 69-40 with 3:07 to go on a Desmond Bane tray.
“We did a great job fighting for 48 minutes, but against this team it is not enough to fight, you should also be able to execute,” Iisalo said.
Memphis led 77-51 in the long time firing 57.4 percent and committing only three ball losses. The Grizzlies scored only 80 points in game 1.
Clippers and Knicks claim points
Kawhi Leonard recorded 21 points, 11 rebounds and six assists and Los Angeles Tok is a 2-1 advantage in the series with a convincing victory over Denver in Inglewood, California.
James Harden had 20 points in the first half to go with nine assists and six rebounds, while Norman Powell also scored 20 for fifth sealed clippers. Ivica Zubac registered 19 points and nine rebounds when Los Angeles won their second consecutive in the best series of seven of the first round.
The Denver star, Nikola Jokic, recorded 23 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists for its twenty-triple-double race. Jamal Murray also scored 23 points and Aaron Gordon added 15 points and seven rebounds for fourth part nuggets.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 31 points and Jalen Brunson added 30, including 12 in the fourth quarter, to give New York a victory over Detroit in game 3 of his first round playoff series of the East Conference.
OG Anunoby put 22 points for the Knicks, who have a 2-1 advantage in the best seven series on Sunday in Detroit. Brunson, who averaged 35.5 points in the first two games, also had nine assists and seven rebounds in game 3.
Gade Cunningham and Tim Hardaway Jr led Detroit with 24 points each, and Cunningham distributed 11 assists. Dennis Schroder scored 18 points for the Pistons, who has not won a playoff game at home since May 2008.