Memphis survive furious late rally from Thunder and hold on in OT.
The NBA playoffs continued on Thursday night as the Memphis Grizzlies and Atlanta Hawks continue to cause a stir with wins over the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder respectively.
The Grizzlies won their second straight overtime game but will be concerned with their weakness of blowing fourth-quarter leads having led by 17 before going cold in the final seven minutes.
Mike Conley scored five of his 20 points in overtime to ensure Memphis move 2-1 ahead, while Courtney Lee clinched the win as he hit three of four free throws in the final 10 seconds of OT.
Game 4 is on Sunday night in Memphis and the Thunder will need to shoot better as despite Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook scoring 30 points apiece, Durant was 10 of 27 while his point guard was 9 of 26.
In contrast, Zach Randolph scored 16 points and had 10 rebounds for the hosts, who have now won 15 straight games at home and will be confident of piling more pressure on their rivals in their next meeting.
Staying in the Western Conference, the Los Angeles Clippers were able to pick up a road win against the Golden State Warriors to take a 2-1 lead of their own.
Blake Griffin had 32 points and eight rebounds in another dominant performance, while Stephen Curry was limited to just 16 points although he also had 15 assists.
Klay Thompson scored 26 points to help rally the Warriors from an 18-point deficit in the third quarter, but it wasn’t enough as a sell-out ORACLE Arena was silenced as the Clippers bruised and battered their way to victory inside.
Over in the East, the Indiana Pacers fell behind in their series against the Atlanta Hawks after Jeff Teague weaved his way to 22 points and 10 assists.
The top-seeded Pacers were greeted with chants of “Overrated!” as the clock ticked down, as the Hawks truly believe that they are capable of eliminating them from the playoff picture.
Game 4 is on Saturday in Atlanta and key to their winning run moving forward will be Teague’s influence on proceedings, while Kyle Korver was also instrumental from beyond the arc.
Lance Stephenson led the Pacers with 21 points while Luis Scola impressed off the bench, but the remainder of the roster was restricted which leaves them in a hole ahead of the next clash.
NBA Results:
Indiana Pacers 85-98 Atlanta Hawks
Oklahoma City Thunder 95-98 Memphis Grizzlies
Los Angeles Clippers 98-96 Golden State Warriors
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