Thunder is Team to Beat in the West

The Oklahoma City Thunder made a resounding statement with their Game 6 and Game 7 victories over the Memphis Grizzlies to win their first round playoff series.

The Thunder has been looking susceptible and lacking confidence over the last month, but now look like the team to beat in the deep Western Conference.

On Saturday night, the Thunder showed how strong they are offensively with a 120-109 win at home. It did not help that Memphis was without its top scorer Zach Randolph who had been suspended by the league for the game. Adding to their woes was the hamstring injury their point guard Michael Conley suffered in Game 6 and an eye problem Tony Allen was dealing with.

Regardless of who was playing for the Grizzlies on Saturday, the Thunder team that played was its version of a title contender.

Kevin Durant had played subpar over the first five games of the series, if that is possible. He was distracted by the way Memphis used its schemes against him. Teammate Russell Westbrook also went off at times to play his own game and forgot about his four other teammates on the court.

However, both turned around their games and the results were impressive. Durant had 36 points in Game 6 and 33 in Game 7.

Westbrook recorded a triple double in Game 7 with 16 assists, equal to the number of shots he took.

The one-two punch of Durant and Westbrook showed up in the last two games of the series to pull the Thunder from the brink of elimination and take them to the next round.

The change in the Thunder is evident after four straight games going into overtime were followed by two straight blowouts registered by the Thunder.

Memphis had their chances in the series and should have gone ahead 3-1 at home after leading by as many as 17 points during the second half. However, Reggie Jackson hit clutch shots, grabbed important rebounds and made impressive steals while scoring 5 points in just the last 60 seconds of the game to tied the series at 2-2.

On Saturday, it was all Durant and Westbrook. The two combined to hit 22 of their 34 shots, grab 18 rebounds, dish off 18 assists and scored 60 points. Of course, the two always score, but their efficiency and working together showed how devastating the two could be at anytime.

Memphis changed its lineup with Randolph out and Conley less than 100%. Allen started and Mike Miller played for Randolph. Jon Leuer who is little used came off the bench to play 20 minutes.

Marc Gasol scored 24 points and a tough Conley although limited scored 20 points and handed out 9 assists. However, the 109 points in regulation was not enough for Memphis on Saturday night.

Now the Thunder will wait for the Los Angeles Clippers to come to town on Monday night for Game 1 of their best of seven Western Conference semifinal series.

The Clippers outlasted the Golden State Warriors 126-121 on Saturday night to win their first round series in seven games.