by Marcel Mutoni / @ marcel_mutoni
Kevin Durant stared into the basketball abyss, and this is what he saw: an endless maze of long Memphis Grizzlies arms.
It’s become an all-too familiar sight for Durant, who has gotten little to no help through four games of this second round Playoff series, and now the Grizz are one win away from reaching the Western Conference Finals.
KD and his coach, Scott Brooks, tried to keep their heads up in the postgame press conference following a crushing 103-97 overtime defeat, but the writing appears to be on the wall for them.
Per the Oklahoman:
In a game that NBA history says the Thunder had to have, the Boomers squandered a 17-point second-quarter lead, a 12-point third-quarter lead and lost 103-97 in overtime Monday night to the Memphis Grizzlies. The Griz now lead this Western Conference semifinal series three games to one. Only eight of 194 teams that have been down 3-1 have advanced.
“I thought our guys did everything they possibly could do to put themselves in position to win this game,” said Thunder coach Scott Brooks. “Unfortunately, we came up a little bit short.” […] “We could have done a much better job there.” The Thunder will have at least one more chance. “It’s not over yet,” Brooks said. “They’re in a good position, but our challenge is not impossible.”
OKC’s challenge isn’t impossible, but it’s incredibly daunting.
With Russell Westbrook in street clothes until next season, Kevin Durant will have to carry even more of the load for the Thunder against this Grizzlies team in order to extend his team’s season. Problem is that no matter how heroically KD plays, it might not be enough against Memphis.
