By The Numbers: Thunder-Grizzlies
Numbers to note from Tuesday’s win at Memphis.
1: Technical foul on Kendrick Perkins, who got tangled up with Marc Gasol just before the halftime buzzer. The two were slapped with double technical fouls, and it was Perk’s fourth this season. Perk’s tech count has officially started, as 13 in this shortened season results in a suspension.
3: 3-pointers by Thabo Sefolosha on 3-for-3 shooting. Sefolosha has now made his last five 3s and is shooting 10-for-16 from deep this season. His 62.5 percent clip is the best among any Thunder player with at least 10 attempts.
4: Free throws attempted and made by Perk, who improved his foul shot rate to 82.1 percent. A career 60.7 percent foul shooter, Perk has made 23 of 28 this year. And for the second time this season, Perkins confidently kept the ball in the final seconds rather than passing to a teammate when the Grizzlies were forced to foul. And for the second time, Perk stepped to the line and dropped both free throws.
10: Points for James Harden, tying his season low. Harden struggled with his shot, going 2-for-8 in 29 minutes and never found much room to operate in his customary tw0-man game with Nick Collison. The last time Harden scored 10 points (in a 10-point win against Phoenix), he bounced back with solid 16-point, seven-rebound, three -assists, two-steals effort in a loss at Dallas.
12: Rebounding differential in favor of the Thunder. The final tally was 51-39, which went a long way in helping OKC control the game. In the first meeting, Memphis out-rebounded OKC 49-41 and had 19 offensive rebounds leading to 23 second chance points. Tuesday night, the Grizzlies had just nine second chance points.
13: Rebounds for Perk, a season high. Perk’s previous high was nine, set last Saturday at Houston.
14: Assists by the Thunder, the second lowest tally this season. Ball movement continues to be erratic for OKC, and Tuesday’s was a tell-all sign of how “sticky” the ball can get. On offense, the Thunder settled for one and two passes and dribbled the air out of the ball while waiting for ball screens and setting up isolations. As a result, the Thunder finished with more turnovers (15) than assists for the third time in the first 11 games.
16: Points scored by Rudy Gay, who made just 7-of-21 shots. Kevin Durant and Thabo Sefolosha tag-teamed to do a terrific job on Memphis’ best perimeter scorer.
22: Bench points by the Thunder. It wasn’t the second unit’s best performance, which goes back to Harden’s struggles and the lack of ball movement. The reserves combined to make just 6-of-19 shots from the field and had just five assists against four turnovers.
30: Points scored by Russell Westbrook, a season high. Westbrook atoned for his 0-for-13 shooting performance at Memphis on Dec. 28 with an impressive 12-for-20 night from the field. He carried the Thunder’s offense with pull-up jumpers and attacks on the basket, which earned him a season-high 10 free throws.
45.9: Percent shooting by both teams, the first time this season that the Thunder has tied its opponent in accuracy from the field. Oklahoma City was .001 percentage point better than Minnesota when it played the Wolves in the second game of the season.
4,518: Fewer fans at the game in Memphis on Tuesday night compared to the Grizzlies’ home opener that came against the Thunder on Dec. 28. In the first game, the Grizzlies announced a sellout crowd of 18,119. On Tuesday, the Grizzlies announced a crowd of 13,601.
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