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MEMPHIS — After John Konchar’s corner outside attempt hit the side of the rim, Alex Caruso broke away from traffic and got the easy transition when he received the ball from Jalen Williams. With the FedExForum already emptied, the easy bucket was the perfect sendoff for one of the most shocking results in NBA playoffs history.
Somehow, someway, the Oklahoma City Thunder stole a 114-108 Game 3 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. A 29-point comeback marked the second-biggest comeback ever. This team continues to find ways to impress folks who’ve followed them all season.
Everybody knew this would be the Grizzlies’ best punch. Nobody has ever returned from a 0-3 series deficit. A loss would’ve been the kiss of death. The Thunder understood that. Yet preparing for something and experiencing it are two different things.
The Grizzlies blitzed the Thunder early on. Memphis’ role players were hot. Scotty Pippen Jr. led the way as they carried their crowd’s momentum into their best start of the series. They held a 40-29 lead after the first quarter. The Thunder’s sharp defense was dulled down.
Complacency settled in. The Thunder played like a team with house money while the Grizzlies played like it was in a do-or-die situation. A 29-8 Memphis run blew the scoreboard open as the Thunder entered halftime with a demoralizing 77-51 deficit.
99 out of 100 times, that’s the game. A 29-point deficit is a deep enough hole not to escape from. If I’m being honest, 500 words were already typed into this by the break as the result felt inevitable. But anomalies happen. If any team could make that type of history, it’d be the Thunder.
Throw in Ja Morant’s second-half absence with a hip injury, and the Thunder could slowly believe they could get right back into it. After a one-point first half, Chet Holmgren played the second half with rejuvenated energy. His outside shot fell and he slowly gained his confidence back.
It only took midway through the third quarter for the Thunder to get it under a 20-point hole. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s pull-up 3-pointer made it an 84-65 score with a little under seven minutes left in the frame. Chip, chip, chip away. That’s the only mentality they could’ve had with two quarters left.
Meanwhile, the Grizzlies’ offense suddenly sank. The hot outside shooting that exceeded the warmth of their pregame pyros got ice cold. Morant’s absence left a franchise-star-sized hole in their offense. They couldn’t generate quality looks.
The Thunder had a 36-18 run in the third quarter to make things interesting. The Grizzlies’ lead was down to a manageable 95-87 entering the fourth frame. Like a pitcher throwing a perfect game, no Thunder fan dared to mention what they saw happen.
It only took four minutes for the Thunder to finally square things off on the scoreboard. Gilgeous-Alexander swished in three free-throw attempts to make it a 99-99 contest with eight minutes left. From that point forward, it was a high-intensity exchange.
Holmgren tied it up with a 3-pointer at 108 points apiece with a little under three minutes left. Williams then gave the Thunder their first lead at 109-108 when he split a pair of free throws. From that point forward, their lead only grew. The Grizzlies’ offense was completely absent as they were scoreless in the final 4:51 of the game.
Like the last playoff game, Caruso was the catalyst. Almost like the ball personally disrespected him, he’d rake his arms with full force each time he was near it. He did it hoping for a turnover or disrupting the Grizzlies’ comfort zone. It worked as Memphis was clueless without Morant. It only scored 31 points in the second half and just 13 points in the fourth quarter.
Just a stunner of a result. The Grizzlies crowd went quiet in the second half, minus some moments. The energy was zapped out of the building. Morant’s injury hung over the team for the rest of the night like a storm cloud and Memphis was helpless to see it melt away a near-bulletproof 29-point lead.
The Thunder shot 45% from the field and went 13-of-38 (34.2%) from 3. They shot 23-of-33 on free throws. They had 24 assists on 39 baskets. Five Thunder players scored double-digit points.
Gilgeous-Alexander had 31 points and eight assists. Williams scored an efficient 26 points. Holmgren bounced back with a loud 24 points. Caruso and Isaiah Joe each had 10 points off the bench.
Meanwhile, the Grizzlies shot 43% from the field and went 14-of-42 (33.3%) from 3. They shot 22-of-26 on free throws. They had 23 assists on 36 baskets. Five Grizzlies players scored double-digit points.
Pippen Jr. led the way with a surprising 28 points on 8-of-16 shooting, five rebounds and five assists. Jaren Jackson Jr. had 22 points and seven rebounds. Morant tallied 15 points and five assists in the first half before he was hurt. Desmond Bane only had 10 points and Santi Aldama scored 14 points off the bench.
The game ended hours ago and I remain speechless. So were the Thunder players in their postgame pressure. Probably a mixture of adrenaline and sleepiness as they sat in front of a room filled with reporters and bright lights past midnight.
Sometimes, there are green flags sprinkled throughout a season that suggest the basketball gods are smiling down upon them. This was the latest example of that for the Thunder. To come back down by 29 points after such a lackadaisical first half is what a championship winner does on their way to a title.
Any other above-average squad just shrugs their shoulder and moves on to Game 4. Nope. Not OKC. They fought back and took advantage of the game in front of them. Now, they sit pretty with a 3-0 series lead over the Grizzlies that ends any intrigue in this series.
Let’s look at Thunder player grades:
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: A
Any foolish concerns about Gilgeous-Alexander were shushed in Memphis. The rumors of his demise were greatly exaggerated after he had two stinkers to start this playoff series. After returning to his vintage MVP form, this game just confirms the theory that he played a game manager role to get his teammates going.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 31 points on 10-of-26 shooting, eight assists and four rebounds. He shot 2-of-7 from 3 and went 9-of-9 on free throws. He also had a steal and a block.
This performance looked closer to the Gilgeous-Alexander we saw in the regular season. The mid-range maestro backed down defenders for turnaround fadeaway jumpers. He got into a groove. Drives to the basket resulted in free-throw trips that irked the Grizzlies’ home crowd to the point they chanted “free-throw merchant” at him.
With the Thunder’s offense struggling, Gilgeous-Alexander was one of the rare bright spots in the first half. He put up 18 points and ensured Memphis’ lead didn’t reach 30. He bought them just enough time for Holmgren and the rest to wake up.
This is exactly what the Thunder needed from Gilgeous-Alexander. In a hostile road environment, he went into it knowing he’d need to carry the offensive load at the start until they shook off nerves. Pair that with his clutch moments in the fourth quarter, this was the best he’s looked in these playoffs.
Chet Holmgren: A-plus
The sports cliche of a tale of two halves perfectly fits Holmgren’s performance. An ugly first half that resulted in just a single point was quickly forgiven with one of the best two-quarter stretches of his career to put the Thunder in a 3-0 series lead.
Holmgren finished with 24 points on 8-of-16 shooting and eight rebounds. He shot 5-of-10 from 3 and went 3-of-4 on free throws.
Getting open from outside thanks to Isaiah Hartenstein’s screen, Holmgren knocked down a catch-and-shoot look from deep to open up the second half. That foreshadowed the rest of the night. The seven-footer mimicked Stephen Curry with five outside makes to ignite the Thunder’s comeback.
After Caruso kicked the ball out to Holmgren, he splashed in a right-wing 3-pointer to erase the Thunder’s final deficit and tie it up at 108 points apiece. It’s only fitting that the 22-year-old hit that big-time bucket as he was the face of OKC’s monstrous comeback.
So much can be said about Holmgren’s night. To shake off a bad first half is a sign of growth. Most players would succumb to the slow start and call it another day. Instead, he spearheaded one of the craziest finishes to a playoff game in NBA history.
Jalen Williams: A-plus
Hitting on a stepback 3-pointer at the buzzer, Williams shaved the Grizzlies’ lead to single-digit points to enter the fourth quarter. While the difference is minuscule, the outside bucket gave the Thunder all of the momentum in a series-changing frame.
Unlike Gilgeous-Alexander and Holmgren, Williams was a steady drumbeat. Make it three for three in his second playoff run. The 24-year-old has aced every test through the infancy stages of the postseason. This was the latest example.
Williams finished with 26 points on 9-of-16 shooting, six rebounds and five assists. He shot 2-of-6 from 3 and went 6-of-10 on free throws. He also had two steals and a block.
Besides Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams was the only other viable source of offense in the first half. He had 18 points at the break. He was lethal at his mid-range spots and got to the free-throw line at will with his drives to the basket. The only criticisms against him were his misses at the charity stripe. It didn’t cost them the comeback but added extra stress.
His teammates will get all of the love, but Williams was an underrated hero in this comeback. The Grizzlies can’t limit him when he gets into a rhythm. He’s been one of the three best players in this short series.
Alex Caruso: A-plus
Running over to Pippen Jr. to close out on the potential outside shooter, Caruso said screw it and went for the ball instead. He smacked the ball out of his hands and created another turnover. The critical steal sealed the result as the Grizzlies were down by three points in the final seconds.
It was the defensive highlight of the night. For the second straight game, Caruso lived up to his moniker as a playoff riser. He finished with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting, six rebounds and three assists. He also had four steals and one block.
Scrolling through social media, you’ll find some version of “This is why the Thunder traded for Caruso” pop up on your feed several times. He took over in the fourth quarter as the Grizzlies slowly melted away their lead with just 13 points scored. Stop after stop, Memphis was overwhelmed in the most critical moments.
Acquiring Caruso has been one of Sam Presti’s best moves in his long GM tenure. Everybody with a lick of basketball knowledge knew what’s happened these last two games was inevitable and worth any regular-season headaches.
Highlights:
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