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Thunder down hapless Grizzlies in overtime

Jan 29, 2009 - 6:52 AM OKLAHOMA CITY (Ticker) -- The Oklahoma City Thunder flirted with disaster before dousing the Memphis Grizzlies' hopes of snapping a double-digit losing streak.

Kevin Durant scored 35 points and the Thunder posted a 114-102 overtime victory over the Grizzlies on Wednesday, overcoming a double-digit deficit and Rudy Gay's follow shot at the end of regulation that forced overtime as the clock hit double zero.

"Kevin's a great kid," Thunder interim coach Scott Brooks said. "I think what he was doing - this is odd to say - was he knows we had a tough storm the last couple of days, and he wanted the people of Oklahoma City to take their mind off the ice storm and enjoy five more minutes of basketball."

The Grizzlies used a 17-6 run over the last five minutes of the fourth quarter to force overtime as Gay dropped in Mike Conley's miss from beyond the arc. They scored the first basket in overtime, but Oklahoma City ran off 14 straight points and Memphis' losing streak hit ll.

Gay hit a layup to start OT after his game-saving shot to give Memphis a 102-100 lead. The Grizzlies went dry after that, going the final 4:43 without a point as Oklahoma City rolled.

Durant scored eight of the points in the 14-0 run, hitting two baskets and four free throws as Oklahoma City recovered from the shock of being knotted in a game it seemingly had won.

"Me, Jeff (Green) and Nick (Collison) had nine rebounds and Jeff said we were going to fight for this last one," said Durant, who grabbed his last rebound as time wound down. "And luckily it easily just dropped in my hands. Jeff said something about it so it was pretty funny."

Gay had hit a shot from behind the arc as Memphis roared to a 32-18 lead with 2:02 left in the first quarter.

The Thunder quickly turned the tables and devoured the gap, grabbing a 54-53 lead on Durant's hoop with 56 seconds left in the half.

"I told him tonight that he's going to have to take leadership of this team," Chucky Atkins said of Durant. "Not leadership meaning taking all the shots. When I say leadership and demanding excellence out of the team, I mean taking over and doing things.

"Not only just scoring but defensively - blocking shots and rebounding - and I think you're seeing a little bit of everything from what he did in overtime, and ultimately that's what won us the game."

The third quarter provided more Thunder as they outscored Memphis, 25-14, to enter the final 12 minutes with an 81-71 lead.

Gay paced Memphis with 25 points.