Oklahoma City, OK – Rudy Gay poured in 28 points and Zach Randolph continued his string of double-double performances as the Memphis Grizzlies came through with an impressive 107-97 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
Randolph racked up 20 and 11 rebounds before being ejected with 2:05 left to record his seventh consecutive double-double to begin the season. More importantly, the Grizzlies registered their sixth straight win since opening the 2012-13 campaign with a road loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
"We all had a high level tonight and it showed on the court," said Randolph. "We shot the ball well and kept them from getting too much on the transition."
Memphis overcame a 10-point deficit after one quarter and a 34-point outburst by reigning NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant to halt a five-game win streak by the defending Western Conference title-holders.
Durant knocked down 12-of-21 shots and added 10 rebounds for Oklahoma City, with Russell Westbrook amassing 17 points and 13 assists in defeat and Serge Ibaka posting 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting on the night.
The Grizzlies trailed 30-20 after one period before beginning the second with an 11-2 run sparked by five points from reserve Quincy Pondexter, then later outscored the Thunder by a 15-4 count over the final four minutes of the opening half to open up an 11-point lead at halftime.
Pondexter ignited that surge as well by burying a 3-pointer that snapped a 41-41 tie with 3:45 remaining in the second quarter, and Memphis closed out the quarter on a 10-0 run to account for the 56-45 advantage.
Mike Conley's layup off a Thunder turnover with 32 seconds left in the half pushed the margin to nine points, and the point guard fed Marc Gasol for a short jumper at the buzzer later on to give Memphis a double-digit cushion at intermission.
"The second quarter when we were outscored by 21 points was tough to overcome," Thunder head coach Scott Brooks said. "We have to come back and figure out ways to improve."
The Grizzlies extended the lead to 65-49 less than three minutes into the third quarter. However, Oklahoma City would climb back into it before the session would end.
Down 73-59 with five minutes left in the third, the Thunder embarked on a 10-2 flurry capped by a Westbrook trey to pull to within six points, though that would turn out to be as close as Oklahoma City would get.
Gay netted the game's next six points, including a nifty pull-up jumper that put the Grizzlies up 83-71 in the beginning stages of the fourth quarter. Memphis maintained a double-digit advantage for much of the contest's final stanza, countering a 5-0 Thunder run that closed the home team within 97-89 with 4:18 to go by holding Oklahoma City scoreless over the next two-plus minutes.
The Thunder broke the scoreless drought when Westbrook sank two free throws, with Randolph and Oklahoma City Kendrick Perkins both tossed in between the attempts following a heated exchange between the two.
Game Notes
Memphis improved to 5-0 this season and 22-3 since the start of the 2011-12 campaign when scoring 100 or more points ... Gasol, who finished with 14 points, and Ibaka were both teammates on the Spanish national team that captured a silver medal at the London Olympics after falling to a United States squad led by Durant and Westbrook in the championship game ... Randolph entered the night atop the NBA with an average of 14.5 rebounds per game.
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