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Thunder even up series with Grizzlies

May 4, 2011 - 7:00 AM Oklahoma City, OK (Sports Network) - Kevin Durant scored 26 points, Russell Westbrook added 24 and James Harden totaled 21 off the bench, as Oklahoma City took apart Memphis, 111-102, to even their Western Conference semifinal series.

Eric Maynor chipped in 15 points, Westbrook dished out six assists and Nick Collison totaled seven points and seven rebounds for Oklahoma City, which tied the series at 1-1.

"We came out and played with a lot of effort in the right areas," said Thunder head coach Scott Brooks.

Mike Conley led the way with 24 points and eight assists, Zach Randolph added 15 points despite a 2-of-13 shooting night and Marc Gasol donated 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who have still stolen homecourt advantage thanks to their 114-101 victory in Game 1.

"After losing Game 1 at home, you don't have nothing else to do but play with a chip on your shoulder," said Durant. "They beat us pretty badly, so we wanted to do the same."

The series shifts to Memphis for Game 3 on Saturday.

Oklahoma City didn't score until Thabo Sefolosha's trey nearly three minutes in, but it scored in bunches after that. Back-to-back treys by Durant gave the home team a 13-8 edge, and the margin grew to double digits at 26-15 on Maynor's layup with 36.7 ticks to go.

"I say the desperate team usually wins and they were the desperate team in their play," said Memphis head coach Lionel Hollins. "They came out and attacked. We settled for a lot of jump shots."

The Thunder left the first quarter with a 28-17 advantage and held on to their comfortable margin, claiming a 43-35 on Westbrook's jumper. Oklahoma City took a 54-44 halftime lead, shooting 56 percent from the floor with 14 points coming from Westbrook and 13 from Durant. Memphis made just 41 percent of its shots, without a made trey, and was paced by Conley's 10 points.

The edge was as high as 13 points on several occasions in the third, but also as low as 74-68 on O.J. Mayo's three-point play nearing the final minute of the period. Serge Ibaka's tip-in capped the third quarter scoring, then the Thunder scored the first five points of the fourth with Harden's two free throws making it 81-68.

Maynor, who drained a trey to start the fourth, buried another for an 84-71 game and Ibaka's jumper gave the Thunder a sizeable 86-71 lead with just over nine minutes to play.

The lead grew to 20 at 94-74 as Maynor again drained a triple, and the Thunder held on from there despite a last-gasp surge.

Game Notes

Ibaka finished with eight points and six rebounds...Sam Young had 12 points, Randolph hauled in nine rebounds, and Mayo contributed 16 points off the bench for the Grizzles, who made just 44.3 percent of their shots on the night...Oklahoma City made 52 percent of its shots, eight three-pointers and 27-of-33 free throws in the win...The game was never tied after 0-0.