Marc Gasol had better pick up his game against Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday – or he and the Memphis Grizzlies will be watching the rest of the playoffs from home.
The cinderella Western Conference eighth-seed had taken the NBA by storm before a crushing Game 5 loss at home and subpar effort Wednesday night in Oklahoma City. They are down, 3-2, in the semifinal series and face elimination in a do-or-die Game 6.
They will try to force a Game 7, which is scheduled for Sunday in Oklahoma City.
The winner of the series will face the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference finals.
Gasol, whose brother, Pau, and his Los Lakers were bounced from the playoffs in a humiliating sweep to the Mavs, had been carrying the Grizzlies along with fellow big man, Zach Randolph. That was before Game 5.
The Spaniard center, as well as the rest of the team, disappeared and was blown out 99-72. That embarrassing loss came on the heels of a triple overtime heartbreaker earlier in the week. In Memphis, the team – which had a commanding series lead and a lead in Game 4 – instead lost, 133-123.
Gasol scored 26 points and grabbed 21 boards in 57 minutes.
In Game 5, however, the dominant big man vanished. He led the team with 15 points, but grabbed only five rebounds and committed two turnovers in 31 minutes.
Meanwhile, the Miami Heat eliminated the Boston Celtics Wednesday night, while the Chicago Bulls knocked out the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday.
Al Horford, the Dominican forward-center, played 37 minutes and scored seven points and grabbed four rebounds.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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