The Oklahoma City Thunder and Memphis Grizzlies played Game 3 on Thursday night and with the series tied 1-1 coming, the Grizzlies won to take a 2-1 series lead and the score at FedExForum was 98-95 and now Memphis takes the lead into Game 4 after Russell Westbrook had 30 points, while Mike Conley and Zach Randolph led the way for the Grizzlies.
The Thunder had multiple chances at the end to tie the game and Durant missed a three and then the Grizzlies were able to corral the rebound eventually and that sent the team to the foul line and that sealed it. The Thunder got a nice floater from Kevin Durant to cut the lead to three with just over a minute left and in response Marc Gasol hit a jumper and that pushed it back to five with a minute left. Memphis took the early lead in the overtime period and they were up by four points with just over two minutes left in the period and after that Zach Randolph was put on the line and he added one of two free throws as the Grizzlies pushed the lead to five.
The Thunder and the Grizzlies each got chances to win the game at the end, but things once again went into overtime after the exciting matchup in Game 2. The Thunder knotted up the game and with the score tied the Grizzlies missed a final layup chance from Mike Conley that would have won the game and with 2.6 second left Oklahoma City had another chance. Durant took a quick three after getting the inbounds pass and he never came close and now the team is into overtime for the second straight game.
The Grizzlies won the last matchup in Game 2 and that went into overtime after Kendrick Perkins put in a layup and that came after the crazy four point play in that game by Durant. There was one in this game as well, as Westbrook had another three that turned into a four point play and with 26 seconds left in the game Westbrook tied things up with a free throw. At one point OKC was down 12 in the quarter and Westbrook led the way in regulation with 29 points and 11 rebounds heading into the overtime period. The Grizzlies had 16 points from Tony Allen in regulation, while Zach Randolph had 10 rebounds and five assists heading into the extra period.
The Indiana Pacers and the Atlanta Hawks played on Thursday night as well and the home team took Game 3, putting the Hawks up 2-1 over the number one seed in the eastern conference. The Hawks outscored the Pacers in the fourth quarter and they got another great game from Jeff Teague and he had 22 points and 10 assists in the game, while Paul Millsap led the way with 14 rebounds and now the Hawks have the chance for a 3-1 lead with the next game coming on Saturday. The Pacers lost the first game at home before blowing out the Hawks in Game 2 and now they are in a tough spot heading into Game 4, as they are the number one team and the pressure is mounting.
Check here for the playoff standings and results from the NBA playoffs.
