(4) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (8) Memphis Grizzlies
Inside the Series
Season Series: MEM (3-1)
Scoring Leaders: Kevin Durant (OKC): 27.9 PPG
Zach Randolph (MEM): 20.1 PPG
Assist Leaders: Russell Westbrook (OKC): 8.2 APG
Mike Conley (MEM): 6.5 APG
Rebounding Leaders: Zach Randolph (MEM): 12.2 RPG
Kendrick Perkins (OKC): 8.0 RPG
Key Players
Oklahoma City: F Serge Ibaka
Head coach Scott Brooks couldn't ask anymore from Serge Ibaka. Ibaka burst onto the basketball scene last year and continued his stellar defensive play into this season. He even swatted a ridiculous nine shots in the Game 6 clincher against Denver. The 6'10" foward from the Congo has to pressure Memphis' Zach Randolph and try to make him a non-factor in this series.
Memphis: G O.J. Mayo
Despite Mayo's success prior to his NBA career, it never translated into what Memphis wanted. Instead of developing into one of the league's top scorers, Mayo has been hovering around mediocrity. The USC product must elevate his game this series and must be in a position to counter clutch shots from Kevin Durant with some of his own.
Key Matchup
Kendrick Perkins vs. Marc Gasol
This will be an intense battle between two remarkably similar players. Gasol and Perkins are both massive and both play extremely tough defense. The matchup will be very telling and could dictate who wins the battle of the boards. Although the Thunder may have the upper hand at this spot, they should look to embrace Perkins, just as their fans have, in order to fully utilize the former champion.
Prediction
Game 1: Memphis 103, Oklahoma City 97
Game 2: Memphis 84, Oklahoma City 106
Game 3: Oklahoma City 111, Memphis 100
Game 4: Oklahoma City 96, Memphis 98
Game 5: Memphis 78, Oklahoma City 90
Game 6: Oklahoma City 88, Memphis 95
Game 7: Memphis 98, Oklahoma City 112
Oklahoma City wins 4-3
The Grizzlies are on an extreme high right now, which makes this series closer than it should be. They even took three of the four regular season matchups against Oklahoma City. However, the Thunder have more talent and are better built for a championship run. Oklahoma City also has homecourt advantage, which in their case is a huge plus.
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