Up 2-0, Thunder will attempt to keep defense turned up against Grizzlies

Oklahoma City enters Thursday’s Game 3 of its first-round Western Conference series against the Memphis Grizzlies with a comfortable 2-0 lead.

Comfortable as in the two Thunder victories have come by 51 and 19 points.

And comfortable as in Oklahoma City has easily won both games despite less-than-stellar performances from MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

When the series shifts to Memphis for Games 3 and 4, Gilgeous-Alexander will attempt to regain the form that easily carried the Thunder to the Western Conference’s best record.

In the series opener — a 131-80 OKC victory — Gilgeous-Alexander scored a season-low 15 points on 4-of-13 shooting. In Game 2, Alexander scored 27 points, but made only 10 of 29 shots. That included just three of his 10 3-point tries.

It has been frustrating for Gilgeous-Alexander, but he’s thankful the Thunder’s talent, depth and defensive prowess has made up for his struggles.

“I feel like I’m getting looks that I usually make, just missing them, that’s part of basketball,” he said. “Because my team is really good, we’ve won two games by a decent margin. They’ve had my back the last two nights.”

In Game 1, Aaron Wiggins had 21 points and Jalen Williams scored 20, while Chet Holmgren contributed 19 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks. In Game 2, Williams had 24 points and Holmgren added 20 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks.

Oklahoma City has dominated thanks to its trademark suffocating defense. The Thunder held Memphis to 34 percent shooting in the opener and forced 24 turnovers. In Game 2, it was more of the same. The Thunder limited Memphis to 17 first-quarter points and forced the Grizzlies to miss their first 10 shots.

And it was that defense, and offensive rebounding, that allowed the Thunder to withstand a strong third quarter by the Grizzlies. Oklahoma City finished with 16 offensive rebounds in Game 2.

“Our defense stayed with it,” said Thunder coach Mark Daigneault. “We still stacked stops despite not a great shooting half and not a lot of easy stuff. Our perseverance in the third quarter, just to grind through that quarter and (get offensive rebounds). We just manufactured second-half offense to win.”

Memphis interim coach Tuomas Iisalo witnessed a better performance from his team, but not one capable of overcoming the top-seeded Thunder. Memphis never led in Game 2.

“Not much changed between the games,” Iisalo said. “They controlled the offensive boards and were able to generate turnovers from us, which means it’s very difficult to run.

“They get live-ball turnovers, which is the situation that produces the most expected points.”

One encouraging sign for the Grizzlies was the improved play of forward Jaren Jackson Jr., who finished with 26 points on 10-of-17 shooting in Game 2. Jackson managed but four points on 2-of-13 shooting in Game 1.

“I think I was just more aggressive,” Jackson said. “I just read the defense differently than I did in Game 1. I didn’t just allow myself to be doubled or tripled.”

Grizzlies star guard Ja Morant backed Jackson with 23 points and helped the Grizzlies trim an 18-point halftime deficit to single digits in the third quarter.

“I feel like we had a little more flow and more ball movement,” Morant said of the third quarter. “The passes were on time and on target. Guys were stepping into it with some rhythm and started knocking down shots.”

–Field Level Media