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Quick notes from the Grizzlies 103-100 loss to the Thunder 

1. Marc Gasol posted 23 points (8-of-16 FG, 3-5 3P) and five rebounds in 33 minutes. With his third three-point field goal of the night, Gasol recorded his 100th three-pointer of the season and his 30th career game, all recorded this season, with multiple threes. Prior to this season, Gasol only made 12 three-point field goals in his first eight seasons combined.

2. Zach Randolph posted 20 points and nine rebounds; This marked his 10th game of the season with 20-or-more points.  Randolph (17,702) passed Shawn Marion for 76th in NBA history for career points scored.

3. Tony Allen finished with 14 points (7-of-10), seven rebounds and two steals in 28 minutes, while marking his 30th game in double figures.

4. Russell Westbrook scored 29 of the Thunder’s 46 second half points. Westbrook finished with 45 points, 10 assists, nine rebounds and five steals. Westbrook finished one rebound shy of recording his 42 triple-double of the season to surpass the triple double record  in a season held by Oscar Roberson

5. Victor Oladipo chipped in 15 points and five assists in 39 minutes.

6. The win marked Thunder Head Coach Billy Donovan’s 100th career win.

7. Andrew Harrison chipped in 12 points, three rebounds and three assists. Harrison started in place of Mike Conley who was out due to an eye injury.

 

Quotables

DAVID FIZDALE

On looking at the last three games differently:

“I think we still need to build rhythm going into it. We will rest guys but I’m not taking it for granted yet that we got the seventh seed. I still want the highest seed we can get. I’m always preaching win and I want to still keep building good habits. I don’t know how many minutes guys will play from here on out, but we will definitely continue to play our big guns while resting them periodically. We will alternate them and things like that.”

 

On winning the third quarter:

“Tonight I feel like we got into the fight. They [Oklahoma City Thunder] don’t let you play in the grey. They punch you and they wait to see how you are going to respond. If you don’t respond, they’ll blow you out because they keep punching. I really thought when we got hit, we responded. That’s what I always look for; responses against runs. We really responded well. I thought Z-Bo [Zach Randolph] really tried to will this game tonight. He wanted it bad as he was the most vocal guy in the huddles. I tried to hold him out until the 4-minute mark and he ran right by me with about 4:30 on the clock saying ‘Coach, can’t wait.’ And I said ‘Alright,’ and I trust him with that. He’s earned that right and he was playing great. He really wanted it and tried to will it but we just couldn’t get over the hump.”

 

MARC GASOL:

On what the team can learn from the last few games:

“I think we are getting better in some things. Obviously there are other things that we need to improve, but we feel confident because we’ve got to go into The Playoffs with confidence and know what our strengths are and our weaknesses. I think we have to try to hide them a little better.”

 

TONY ALLEN:

On what the team can learn from the last few games:

“[We need to understand] how critical each possession can be moving forward. If you can just stay in the moment and pretty much do your job in that moment, it will be helpful for the team, but we need to start racking up some wins and capitalizing mentally.”

 

On The Playoffs:

“You do want to go into The Playoffs understanding that we have to be focused for 48 minutes. So, we need to buckle down with it.”

 

Sharon Brown
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