Oklahoma City is looking suspiciously like a team that is going to lose a second-round series. Kevin Durant posted 25 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals, while Serge Ibaka chipped in 13 points, 10 boards and 4 blocks. And still Memphis ground out an 87-81 win for a 2-1 series lead on an afternoon when both teams blunderbussed their way to some ugly shooting totals.
The Thunder officially miss Russell Westbrook. The playoffs miss James Harden. The only transcendent offensive player on either team is now Durant, who was on the floor for 46 minutes and perhaps showed the strain by missing two free throws with under a minute to go. Memphis' Randolph-Gasol shoulderball has the advantage. This is why, as Bill Simmons wrote in his latest trade value tome, you don't send a Kevin Martin to do a James Harden's job.
Photo credit of Marc Gasol as imagined by Dr. Seuss: AP