NSL Playoff Reviews: 17/05/2023

 

Memphis V Oklahoma City

 

The 3^rd Versus 6^th seed Round 1 match up in the West this year was the stunningly deep Memphis team versus one of the new GMs of the league having taken over and turned the season around for the Oklahoma City Thunder. The series was given a 94% vote towards the Grizz despite the regular season going 2-2, including 2 games late in the season after the trade deadline when the Grizz had a set roster. The series didn�t disappoint, going to 6 games in one of the more closely fought series with the experts being proven right in the end. The Grizzlies defence standing tall averaging 6 steals and 9 blocks per game compared to 3 and 5. Here�s how it played out.

 

Game 1 in Memphis and there was never a doubt what the line up for the Thunder was going to look like as they have been the most healthy and consistent team in the league all year. No surprises, no changes still. The Grizz have swung guys around over time to find the right fit depending on the match up, but also went with their expected line up manning up the big men down low and matching size at the 1. Line ups: Jordan/Okongwu/Huerter/Edwards/Dinwiddie V JJJ/Bam/Beal/Brown/Herro.
The Thunder came out and did exactly as they have done all year round, and dominate the boards with their defensive big men. They had a +7 on the game, and +6 on the offensive end. This helped bounce them out to a 27-15 lead after one. The 2^nd quarter was an arm wrestle as Memphis found their groove, but that still left a 10 point Thunder lead going into the half. The 3^rd quarter saw what looked like a balancing of the ledger as the Grizz took the quarter 28-14 to lead by 4 heading into the 4^th, with Beal and Brown well and truly locked in now and protecting the ball fuelling the come back. But, the Thunder shocked the Grizz in the 4^th to wind up winning by 2 after Anthony Edwards hit a FT to give them the lead with a minute to play, and then a bucket with 33 seconds to play to give them a 3 point lead which they held on to. Bradley Beal was the game leading scorer with 31 and Brown had 29, but the whole starting line up for OKC were in double figures, topped by Edwards 19 points. OKC strike 1^st, 1-0.

 

Game 2 and OKC were clearly going to roll on with what they had in the lockeroom as they have all year, while we might have seen some tweaks behind the scenes for the Grizz despite it being hard to make that call losing by only 2 points with most things going as you would like overall. In the end, no line up changes were made on either side. Line ups: Same as Game 1.
Memphis came out in this one with a resolve that looked like they were reeling from the 1^st game. They took a 5 point lead after one, it was then 8 points at the half and their 3^rd quarter again was massive which made it 21 points at � time and all but in the bag from there, winning by 12 in the end. This one saw a lot of the same parallels from game 1 with the Thunder Towers leading the rebounds again, +5 team rebounds, +4 OR rebounds, and Memphis again having pretty much half the turnovers and more blocks. Beal and Brown led the scoring with 24 and 21 for Memphis, and Huerter went for 22 for OKC. In the end, the 12-26 FT shooting for OKC and a dip to 24% from deep was the main deciding factor. We�re all tied, 1-1.

 

Game 3 and everything is back in the balance tied and it would seem that the teams are still content to roll with what they know and keep to the line ups. Line ups: Same as Game 1 and 2.
Game 3 was a massive rollercoaster and an eventual heartbreaker. When the favourite bounces out to a 32-16 lead after one, you�d think that might just be that. The Grizz had again the leading scorer in Brown with 27 (12 in the 1^st), many more steals and +1 blocks, while only turning it over twice the entire game, but the Thunder brought the lead back to 10 at the half, then back to 5 at � time and behind a continued rebounding dominance of +12 and +4 on the offensive side, they put themselves back into a winning spot taking the lead with 5 minutes to go, and then the Grizz playing catch up trading buckets down the stretch before a foul with 4 seconds left giving Tyus Jones 2 free throws, which he converted, to get the 2 point win. Edwards led the Thunder with 26. OKC back in front, 2-1.

 

Game 4 and it the Grizzlies have made the move to try and combat the dominance of the Thunder big men, as DeAndre has been averaging 19 rebounds a game. They decided to go big with Mitch Robinson inserted, and they shortened the rotation to 9 players. Line ups: Jordan/Okongwu/Huerter/Edwards/Dinwiddie V Robinson/Bam/Beal/Brown/Herro.
The move by the Grizz appears to have immediate results, although we might have thought that last game too. They raced out to a 33-17 lead after one with Jaylen Brown scoring 11 and Mitch immediately impacting with 8 points and 4 offensive rebounds just in the 1^st. The 2^nd quarter saw the lead grow to 18 by the half and the difference was looking clear in this game. However, the 3^rd quarter which has been the Grizzlies best typically in the series, saw the Thunder narrow the lead to only 3 taking it 26-11, before the Grizz stabelised again in the 4^th with Okongwu fouled out early (only 23 minutes) and the rest being history. Jaylen Brown again led all scorers with 26, but the Thunder had Huerter with 22 and Dinwiddie with 21 fueling the near come back win. The key stories to the line up change was the first rebounding win for the Grizz +2, and +5 on the offensive end while still dominating steals (+5) and blocks (+7) and having half the turnovers (6 to 12). Jordan still led the rebounding with 15, but Okongwu�s foul trouble was a difference maker. We�re locked again, 2-2.

 

Game 5 back in Memphis and it�s now a 3 game series! The Grizzlies changes were accepted well by the team and Rootsey was happy to see how it fared again rolling with the same line up. OKC, as per usual, rolled out their all year line up. Line ups: Same as Game 4.
The Thunder came out hard in this one, looking similar to the opening game of the series. Their towers stayed on the floor this time and gave them a +2 overall and +4 on the offensive side of the rebounding, but the same other storylines also prevailed with Memphis taking better care of the ball and dominating the defensive stats. OKC lead by 5 after one, and 8 at the half before it being cut to 5 at � time and finally, the Grizz standing up in a close one outscoring the Thunder by 8 in the 4^th and a Jaylen Brown FT giving them a 2 point lead and win with seconds to play. Brown was unusually quiet, with only 4 points in this one, but Bradley Beal dropped 28 points to lead all. Dinwiddie hit 20 again, and Huerter had 19 but the Grizzlies may just have broken the camels back stealing this one to take the series lead. Grizzles 3-2.

 

Game 6 and this epic series had a chance to be ended by the favourite here, but there was a definite air of expectation that maybe, just maybe, it might go to 7. The Grizzles line up remained the same, as it should after 2 wins in a row, and the Thunder opted to roll out the same again as it has been working pretty much 50% of the time against the Grizz, all year! Line ups: Same as Game 4 and 5.
Well, I�m not sure if the heartbreaking loss in game 5 was a sore point for the Thunder or maybe 2 in a row was just what the Grizzles needed to lay a smackdown, but this game from a spectator point of view was a fizzer after a classic series. It left the Memphis GM asking why this couldn�t have been done all series? As he watched his team go the full hog in what we often call a pre-determined 2k game when you start to see both teams empty their benches and give up (even in an elimination game) by the half. The Grizz lead 32-14 after 1, then by 27 at the half and finally 36 at � time and the 4^th was a garbage time special. Brown led all scorers with 19 as they had a Udoka 13 and 13 special off the bench possibly being the player of the game. Dinwiddie had 18 for the Thunder who were short other contributors as they lost the rebounds by 24 and shot it only 30% compared to 52%. The series was over. Memphis take it, 4-2.

 

Congratulations to the Memphis Grizzlies for moving on to the 2^nd round and commiserations to the Thunder for falling short, but thank you for making it such a great series for us all to watch. Beal ended up leading the series scoring by 1 point per game after Brown�s game 5 fizzer took that from him and JJJ�s 3.8 blocks per game, even after going to the bench, was a big factor. OKC are going to come back stronger next year with a year under the new GMs belt and a young team that�s full of development, and the debut of Chet Holmgren coming.

Good luck Rootsey in the 2^nd round!

 

- NSL Insider News.