Grizzlies-Thunder Preview

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) The arrival of Kendrick Perkins was expected to give the Oklahoma City Thunder the kind of inside muscle they needed to stand their ground with a number of the NBA's beefiest large men.

In the opener of their Western Conference semifinal series with Memphis, it was the Grizzlies who did the bruising.

Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol combined for 54 points and 23 rebounds in leading eighth-seeded Memphis to a road victory in Game one for the second straight series. The Grizzlies got 52 points in the paint, over any team but the Los Angeles Lakers have scored against Oklahoma City with Perkins in the lineup.

"They played physical, they bullied us in the first game," guard James Harden said after practice Monday. "So, the second game, we must prepare and go out there and not make excuses and win a game."

Game three is Tuesday night in Oklahoma City.

The Grizzlies, who led the NBA with 51.5 points per game in the paint, averaged a whopping 59 against Oklahoma City while winning the regular-season series 3-1. The Thunder's only win came when Memphis scored 60 points inside but went 10-for-38 outside the paint, including one for 15 on 3-pointers.

Randolph has set the Grizzlies' playoff scoring record in back-to-back games, with 31 points in Game 6 against top-seeded San Antonio and then 34 - along with ten rebounds - in Game one at Oklahoma City.

"We must pack the paint," Harden said. "Pack the paint, clog it up, make them shoot outside jump shots. They lead the league in paint points, so they must cover that up."

"I think Zach showed you how much they can do in the event that they don't double-team him," teammate Darrell Arthur said. "And in the event that they do double-team, he is such a great passer out of the post that it doesn't matter."

He has had 3 games with at least 30 points and ten rebounds against the Thunder.

He was better known for some run-ins with the law. But after bouncing from Portland to New York to the Los Angeles Clippers, they has found a slot in Memphis.

Randolph has become of the stars of the playoffs, a player with no history of postseason success in the coursework of his 10-year career leading a franchise that had never won a playoff series until knocking off top-seeded San Antonio a few days ago.

Randolph has looked unstoppable, even against a front line that added Perkins - of the NBA's top low-post defenders - at the trade deadline in February. The move allowed Serge Ibaka, the league's top shot blocker, to move from middle to his natural power forward position.

"I think Zach is the epitome of life," Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins said. "When we are young people, they make mistakes. They do things that they should not do, and they grow and become better men. Whether it is in this game or in life, that is what this world is all about."

Coach Scott Brooks thought the Thunder did a respectable job of getting Randolph and Gasol out of the areas where they are strongest, but it still wasn't lovely .

"Zach made four shots from the perimeter. There is nothing you can do about that, other than pushing him outside a few additional feet and crowding his space. Gasol made jump shots, and that is not his strength of his game," Brooks said. "But they made them and give them credit. They stepped up and they made those shots."

Gasol went four for four on jumpers from at least 14 feet and Randolph hit four jumpers from at least ten feet out, including a 3-pointer.

"We can shoot the ball, pick and roll. It ain't coming down and throwin' it in the post," Randolph said. "We can do different stuff lots of the other large guys cannot do."

"It wasn't nothing like they had lots of shots in the paint. They hit lots of outside shots (Sunday) - contested, hard shots at that - so you are not overreacting to nothing," Perkins said. "I feel like they didn't play our game.

Perkins said "that wasn't Thunder basketball (Sunday), and it is going to be a different game tomorrow."

"I don't get much concerned about what the other team's doing. I am always concerned about what they do."

The Grizzlies - who led the NBA in steals and turnovers forced - also scored 23 points off of 18 Oklahoma City turnovers and 22 second-chance points off of 17 offensive rebounds.

Brooks said they was hesitant to double-team Randolph much because he is become a quality passer when the Grizzlies send players cutting to the basket.

"That has to alter," Brooks said. "We must get better in those areas because that is their strength, and they had their way with their strength. They don't need that to happen."

"There's only so lots of things you can do on a basketball court," Randolph said. "They could double-team me and push me baseline. There is only things. I have seen  anything, so I will be prepared for whatever they throw at me."