OKC Thunder Grades: Thunder Maul Grizzlies from Get-Go

The Storm Report has your OKC Thunder grades for Wednesday’s dominating win over the Memphis Grizzlies. In direct contrast with their last meeting against the Grizz, the Thunder offense was hitting on all cylinders, shooting a sizzling 45% for the night. Oklahoma City also took a page out of Memphis’ book, employing their own brand of “grit and grind” to the tune of 13 forced turnovers and 11 offensive rebounds. It was an outstanding win for the Thunder, that displayed exactly how dangerous this team is when hitting on all cylinders.

OKC THUNDER GRADES – The Starting Five

Stats: 26 points, 9-of-15 FGA, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks.

In a dominant performance, Kevin Durant picked up where he left off against the Nuggets and the Clippers, hitting 9/15 shots and going 4/6 from deep. Durant was also impeccable on defense, demonstrating how his length is a problem for even the most efficient of teams. If he’s playing this hot after the All-Star break, it’s hard to imagine them not grabbing the conference’s eight seed in rather short order.

Stats: 7 points, 3-of-7 FGA, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks.

Serge Ibaka

had to leave the game for a period in the first quarter and thus only tallied 22 minutes in the game. However, once Serge returned to the contest, the Thunder never looked back. Ibaka continued to be impeccable as a rim protector and while his offense wasn’t stellar, it was still an outstanding effort for Air Congo.

Stats: 24 points, 4-of-15 FGA, 9 rebounds, 9 assists, 15/15 FTA.

Russell Westbrook

didn’t have an amazing shooting night but that was about the only thing he DIDN’T do well. He was aggressive from the get-go, setting a pace that the shell-shocked Grizzlies simply couldn’t contend with. He also continued his hellacious free throw streak, getting to the line an absurd 15 times and not missing a single attempt.

Stats: 2 points, 1-of-3 FGA, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal.

In a game in which the Oklahoma City offense took center stage, it only stands to figure that

Andre Roberson

would take a backseat to his other, more offensively talented teammates. He did a good enough job on

Courtney Lee

and

Tony Allen

defensively, but the performance was altogether fairly average.

Stats: 2

points, 1-1 FGA, 4 rebounds.

Kendrick Perkins

‘ stat line is nothing to write home about but Perk did an admirable job slowing down

Zach Randolph

and

Marc Gasol

while Serge ran around swatting everything that he could get his hands on. Perk is always going to be more of an “eye-test guy” vs. “numbers guy” and tonight was pretty indicative of that.

OKC THUNDER GRADES – The Reserves

Stats: 44 points, 19-of-42 FGA, 17 rebounds, 8 assists.

Do it enough and things tend to become habits. Hopefully the Thunder’s recent bench play holds true to this as the team’s recent run (having won five of their last six), the bench has been nothing short of stellar.

Nick Collison

was easily the most stellar of the reserve unit tonight, looking like he was back at Kansas with 15 points and nine rebounds.

Reggie Jackson

continued his recent resurgence, scoring eight points on 4/6 shooting while posting a bench high +12.

Dion Waiters

also posted a strong performance chipping in 11 of his own points and also throwing that down an absurd slam on

Kosta Koufos

. Unfortunately, McGary-sanity (is that a thing?) came to an end, as

Mitch McGary

went scoreless on 0/3 shooting. Overall though, the bench was stellar and was a huge catalyst in this win for Oklahoma City.

MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES – Top Performer

Stats: 16 points, 5-of-15 FGA, 11 rebounds, 4 assists.

Zach Randolph

has long been OKC’s kryptonite but tonight Z-Bo never got his game going, only shooting 33% from the floor and never really looking comfortable in the context of the game’s pace. However, he still mustered a double-double and did everything he could to keep Memphis within relative striking distance in the first half.

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