MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) The Memphis Grizzlies have learned a very hard lesson about the postseason. Putting together a magical run deep into the playoffs isn’t as easy as they made it look a year ago.

They came back and posted a 41-25 record in the regular season that set a franchise record for the highest winning percentage in earning their highest postseason seed at No. 4. They even had Rudy Gay, who missed last year’s run to the seventh game of the Western Conference semifinals with a shoulder injury.

The Grizzlies ended this postseason in seven games again, but in the first round with an 82-72 loss Sunday to the Clippers.

”Sometimes pain dissipates with time,” coach Lionel Hollins said Monday. ”Hopefully this will stick with them for a long time.”

The Grizzlies finished the season with a 62.1 winning percentage that was amazing considering they lost Darrell Arthur to a torn right Achilles tendon before the season started, then Zach Randolph tore his right MCL on Jan. 1 and missed 37 games.

Memphis finished the regular season winning 16 of 20 with impressive road wins at Oklahoma City, Miami and the Lakers. In the final 18 games, Hollins used Randolph coming off the bench. With that scoring punch, the Grizzlies’ reserves averaged 36.1 points a game in that stretch.

The Grizzlies also led the NBA with 9.6 steals and 17.2 forced turnovers a game, becoming the first team to lead the NBA in those categories in consecutive seasons since the Seattle SuperSonics did it in 1995-96 and 1996-97. They also led the league scoring 19.7 points off turnovers.

They also went 26-7 at home for the best record in franchise history and third-best in the NBA behind only Miami and San Antonio.

”The sky’s the limit for next year when everybody’s healthy and with more experience and more confidence for next year,” guard Tony Allen said.

Yet they wrapped up Monday talking about the same needs as a year ago after losing to Oklahoma City in the second round. Memphis still must find someone to back up Mike Conley at point guard and outside scoring.

Conley played all 40 minutes of Sunday’s final loss despite being sick and running a fever that affected his shooting as he missed his first seven shots and wound up 2 of 13. The Grizzlies hit 11 3-pointers in Game 1 but managed only 2 of 31 in the final three home games of this series.

Gay did lead the Grizzlies in scoring during the playoffs. He also will be heading to training camp with the U.S. men for the London Olympics, and he said he plans to work on all aspects of his game after spending last summer rehabilitating his shoulder.

With Randolph starting against the Clippers, Memphis’ bench averaged 15.3 points in the final three games against Los Angeles with the worst deficit (41-11) coming in the Game 7 loss.

And just as Oklahoma City did in Game 7 a year ago, the Clippers also shut down All-Star center Marc Gasol and Randolph. With nobody able to hit a jumper and going 0 of 13 beyond the arc, Memphis offered no reason for the Clippers to move any defenders away from the paint.

Randolph said they need somebody to open it up so opponents cannot double Gasol and himself.

”You got to have somebody to open it up,” Randolph said. ”They understand how much damage and how much problems me and Marc cause in the paint. We got to fix that.”

The Grizzlies have some decisions to make by July 1. Arthur, O.J. Mayo, Marrese Speights, and Lester Hudson all are restricted free agents, while Gilbert Arenas and Hamed Haddadi are free agents. Mayo and Speights both said they want to be back in Memphis next season.

”We built it basically from the ground up,” Mayo said. ”When I first got here, we had 15 to 2,500 people in the stands to now selling out games and talking about winning championships and home-court advantage in playoffs. It just keeps getting better and better. Why not stick around and finish it out and see where we can get?”

The Grizzlies also had a painful lesson in the playoffs about protecting leads. They built leads repeatedly in the regular season and let them slip away, and it bit them in Game 1 when they blew a 27-point lead overall and 24 points in the fourth quarter. That’s why Hollins wants his Grizzlies to improve their professionalism, poise and focus.

”It’s a concentration … type thing to understand we play the same way whether we’re down or we’re up,” Hollins said.

At least now the Grizzlies don’t have to worry about labor issues putting the start of next season into limbo as they did a year ago and can try to build for the future.

”There were some milestones, but the way I look at it until you hang a championship banner you’re always searching and scrambling and trying to upgrade your team and you’re never satisfied,” general manager Chris Wallace said.

—

Follow Teresa M. Walker at www.twitter.com/teresamwalker

The Memphis Grizzlies are back in the playoffs, but they want to advance further than they did last season.

The bar is set much lower in Charlotte.

Memphis’ push for home-court advantage in the opening round of the postseason continues Friday night when the Bobcats try to end a franchise-record 18-game losing streak with their fifth straight home win in this series.

After making the playoffs last season for the first time since 2006 and winning their first-ever postseason series, the Grizzlies (37-25) clinched another playoff spot Wednesday with a 103-91 victory over Western Conference-worst New Orleans.

Memphis, though, is not satisfied with just being one of the top eight teams in the West. The Grizzlies have their eyes on a bigger prize after knocking out San Antonio in the West quarterfinals last season before pushing Oklahoma City to seven games in the next round.

“We have high expectations for ourselves,” guard O.J. Mayo said Wednesday after scoring 15 points. “It’s obviously the highest of expectations is to win a ring. Last year, we could just be happy to be there. This year, we definitely have a different focus. And we feel like we’re supposed to be there.”

The question now is where Memphis, which has won 12 of 16, will open the postseason. Currently fifth in the West, the Grizzlies have an outside chance to move up a spot if the Los Angeles Lakers or Clippers fall.

While the Grizzlies prepare for what they hope is a deep playoff run, the lowly Bobcats’ only hope is to win one of their final five games to avoid the worst winning percentage in NBA history.

If Charlotte (7-54) can’t win another game, it will finish with a winning percentage of .106. The 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers went 9-73 for a .110 winning percentage.

“We don’t want to set that record,” guard Gerald Henderson said after the Bobcats lost an 18th straight game Wednesday – 100-68 to Chicago. “That’s something that we’re thinking about and we’ve talked about. We just want to win. That’s my sole goal.”

But if the Bobcats are going to avoid that dubious distinction, they’ll likely have to start shooting with more accuracy. They shot a season-low 29.8 percent against the Bulls, surpassing a mark set two nights earlier (30.3 percent) in a 75-67 loss to the Hornets.

“That’s been our problem all year,” said Bobcats coach Paul Silas, whose team is converting a league-worst 41.4 percent.

Charlotte, though, has hit 48.8 percent while winning six of eight against Memphis.

The Bobcats won 96-82 in the Grizzlies’ last visit to Time Warner Cable Arena on Jan. 10, 2011.

Memphis forward Rudy Gay, who finished with 13 points in that defeat, is scoring 24.5 per game – 5.4 more than his season average – over the last eight contests overall.

“I’m going to keep going out there and being aggressive,” Gay said. “That’s what I do. I’m a scorer by heart, and you can’t score without shooting.”

Memphis, 14-18 away from home, closes the road portion of its schedule Friday.

The Bobcats have dropped 11 in a row at home since a 107-103 victory over Toronto on March 17. That was also Charlotte’s last win anywhere.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Rudy Gay scored a season-high 32 points and the Memphis Grizzlies won their fourth straight with a 104-93 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night.

Memphis outscored the Suns 17-6 after Phoenix tied the game at 87 with 6:27 left. Dante Cunningham had six of his 10 points during the stretch run.

Zach Randolph had 17 points and nine rebounds for Memphis, which won for the ninth time in the last 11 games. O.J. Mayo finished with 15 points, and Mike Conley had 12 points and seven assists.

Marcin Gortat had 19 points for Phoenix on 9 of 12 from the floor, while Shannon Brown scored 18. The Suns’ two-game winning streak was snapped. They are 10th in the Western Conference.

Rookie Markieff Morris had 17 for Phoenix, and Steve Nash had 11 points and 10 assists.

The victory, coupled with the Los Angeles Clippers’ 100-98 win at Oklahoma City, left the Grizzlies a half-game behind the Clippers for the fourth seed and home-court advantage in the Western Conference playoffs.

Memphis led 59-53 in a first half that saw very little defence for either team. Both teams were shooting 59 per cent at the half, each hitting 24 of their 41 shots. Both teams were above 60 per cent until the final minute of the half.

The Suns relied on the inside presence of Gortat, who had 15 points in the half, missing only one of his eight shots. Josh Childress was perfect on his five shots in the half for all of his 10 points in the game, and Phoenix had 42 points in the paint.

Gay led Memphis with 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting, while Randolph had 13 points.

Memphis grabbed the first double-digit lead of the game early in the second half after a pair of technical fouls, one on Nash for a no-call, another on Brown during a scrum for position on an inbounds pass, contributed to a 65-55 lead.

The Suns whittled it to 70-67 before Memphis rebuilt the advantage to 80-72 heading to the fourth.

Phoenix opened the final period with an 11-1 run, and the game settled into a series of lead changes and ties, the final one coming a drive by Sebastian Telfair, knotting the score at 87 with 6:27 left.

Memphis then scored six straight points, part of a 13-4 run to take the lead to 100-91.

After the Suns’ dominance inside in the first half, Phoenix managed to outscore Memphis in the paint by 56-54.

NOTES: The Suns missed a chance to sweep the Grizzlies for the first time since the 2007-08 season. .Grant Hill missed his ninth game after undergoing right knee surgery on March 30. The Suns are 5-4 since the injury. .Nash’s 10 assists marked his 36th game this season with 10 or more. .Gay’s point total was his first 30-point game since Dec. 26, 2010, at Indiana, when he scored 30.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) Rudy Gay scored a season-high 32 points and the Memphis Grizzlies won their fourth straight with a 104-93 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night.

Memphis outscored the Suns 17-6 after Phoenix tied the game at 87 with 6:27 left. Dante Cunningham had six of his 10 points during the stretch run.

Zach Randolph had 17 points and nine rebounds for Memphis, which won for the ninth time in the last 11 games. O.J. Mayo finished with 15 points, and Mike Conley had 12 points and seven assists.

Marcin Gortat had 19 points for Phoenix on 9 of 12 from the floor, while Shannon Brown scored 18. The Suns’ two-game winning streak was snapped. They are 10th in the Western Conference.

Rookie Markieff Morris had 17 for Phoenix, and Steve Nash had 11 points and 10 assists.

The victory, coupled with the Los Angeles Clippers’ 100-98 win at Oklahoma City, left the Grizzlies a half-game behind the Clippers for the fourth seed and home-court advantage in the Western Conference playoffs.

Memphis led 59-53 in a first half that saw very little defense for either team. Both teams were shooting 59 percent at the half, each hitting 24 of their 41 shots. Both teams were above 60 percent until the final minute of the half.

The Suns relied on the inside presence of Gortat, who had 15 points in the half, missing only one of his eight shots. Josh Childress was perfect on his five shots in the half for all of his 10 points in the game, and Phoenix had 42 points in the paint.

Gay led Memphis with 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting, while Randolph had 13 points.

Memphis grabbed the first double-digit lead of the game early in the second half after a pair of technical fouls, one on Nash for a no-call, another on Brown during a scrum for position on an inbounds pass, contributed to a 65-55 lead.

The Suns whittled it to 70-67 before Memphis rebuilt the advantage to 80-72 heading to the fourth.

Phoenix opened the final period with an 11-1 run, and the game settled into a series of lead changes and ties, the final one coming a drive by Sebastian Telfair, knotting the score at 87 with 6:27 left.

Memphis then scored six straight points, part of a 13-4 run to take the lead to 100-91.

After the Suns’ dominance inside in the first half, Phoenix managed to outscore Memphis in the paint by 56-54.

NOTES: The Suns missed a chance to sweep the Grizzlies for the first time since the 2007-08 season. .Grant Hill missed his ninth game after undergoing right knee surgery on March 30. The Suns are 5-4 since the injury. .Nash’s 10 assists marked his 36th game this season with 10 or more. .Gay’s point total was his first 30-point game since Dec. 26, 2010, at Indiana, when he scored 30.

Rudy Gay scored a season-high 32 points and the Memphis Grizzlies won their fourth straight with a 104-93 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night at FedExForum.

Memphis outscored the Suns 17-6 after Phoenix tied the game at 87 with 6:27 left. Dante Cunningham had six of his 10 points during the stretch run.

Zach Randolph had 17 points and nine rebounds for Memphis, which won for the ninth time in the last 11 games. O.J. Mayo finished with 15 points, and Mike Conley had 12 points and seven assists.

Marcin Gortat had 19 points for Phoenix on 9 of 12 from the floor, while Shannon Brown scored 18. The Suns’ two-game winning streak was snapped. They are 10th in the Western Conference.

Rookie Markieff Morris had 17 for Phoenix, and Steve Nash had 11 points and 10 assists.

The victory, coupled with the Los Angeles Clippers’ 100-98 win at Oklahoma City, left the Grizzlies a half-game behind the Clippers for the fourth seed and home-court advantage in the Western Conference playoffs.

Memphis led 59-53 in a first half that saw very little defense for either team. Both teams were shooting 59 percent at the half, each hitting 24 of their 41 shots. Both teams were above 60 percent until the final minute of the half.

The Suns relied on the inside presence of Gortat, who had 15 points in the half, missing only one of his eight shots. Josh Childress was perfect on his five shots in the half for all of his 10 points in the game, and Phoenix had 42 points in the paint.

Gay led Memphis with 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting, while Randolph had 13 points.

Memphis grabbed the first double-digit lead of the game early in the second half after a pair of technical fouls, one on Nash for a no-call, another on Brown during a scrum for position on an inbounds pass, contributed to a 65-55 lead.

The Suns whittled it to 70-67 before Memphis rebuilt the advantage to 80-72 heading to the fourth.

Phoenix opened the final period with an 11-1 run, and the game settled into a series of lead changes and ties, the final one coming a drive by Sebastian Telfair, knotting the score at 87 with 6:27 left.

Memphis then scored six straight points, part of a 13-4 run to take the lead to 100-91.

After the Suns’ dominance inside in the first half, Phoenix managed to outscore Memphis in the paint by 56-54.

NOTES: The Suns missed a chance to sweep the Grizzlies for the first time since the 2007-08 season. … Grant Hill missed his ninth game after undergoing right knee surgery on March 30. The Suns are 5-4 since the injury. … Nash’s 10 assists marked his 36th game this season with 10 or more. … Gay’s point total was his first 30-point game since Dec. 26, 2010, at Indiana, when he scored 30.

Grizzlies vs. Spurs

When, where: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas

TV, radio: SportSouth, WMFS 680 AM/92.9 FM

Suns (30-27) at Grizzlies (33-23)

C: Marcin Gortat … Marc Gasol

PF: Channing Frye … Marreese Speights

SF: Jared Dudley … Rudy Gay

SG: Shannon Brown … Quincy Pondexter

PG: Steve Nash … Mike Conley

Key Grizzlies injuries: Tony Allen (facial cut) has missed the past three games. He is questionable for tonight.

Key Grizzlies reserves: Zach Randolph, Gilbert Arenas, O.J. Mayo, Dante Cunningham.

Onto today’s Orange Slices…

* The Suns are not getting any help lately and they are about to enter the toughest remaining stretch of their season – games at Memphis, Houston and San Antonio over four days.

The Suns have a stern test in facing the Grizzlies in Memphis tonight while Denver (home against Minnesota) and Houston (home against Utah) both have more winnable games. Dallas is idle. The Suns are a game behind Denver, 1 1/2 behind Dallas, two behind Houston and a half-game ahead of Utah.

This is a game Memphis also needs because it trails the Clippers by a half-game for fourth place, which is the final home-court advantage spot in the playoffs.

The Grizzlies have won six of their past seven games, including a win at Oklahoma City and a win at Miami that started its current three-game win streak. At home, they have won 11 of their past 13 games with the two losses coming in overtime games.

But here is the reminder again that the Suns are playing just as well as anyone in the league. They have won five of their past six games and are a three-minute scoreless stretch in Denver from a six-game winning streak. They are 18-8 since Feb. 19 and only the league’s top three teams – Chicago, San Antonio and Oklahoma City – can top that mark.

“We have the confidence that we can play with anyone,” Suns guard Michael Redd said. “These last two weeks have been a switch. Since All-Star has been a switch.”

But the run of late has felt like another level, Redd said. The Suns have averaged 110.8 points per game over the past five games to move to 11th in the league in scoring. They face a Grizzlies defense that has only allowed 90.2 points per game in its past nine games.

“We’re a totally different team than before,” Suns swingman Jared Dudley said. “We have six or seven guys who can score in double figures. Defensively, we’re better. Early on, we were barely scoring. We’re pushing the ball now. Now we’re hitting 3s. “

The Suns lead the season series 2-0 but both games were in Phoenix and Zach Randolph did not play in either. Memphis has gone 8-2 since moving Randolph to a bench role once they had lost three consecutive games in his brief return to the starting lineup. The Suns have lost four of their past five trips to Memphis.

* The Suns can move to four games over .500 with a win tonight for the first time this season. They were never more than four games over .500 in all of last season. The Suns’ 30-27 record is the same record they had after 57 games last season. But they had more games remaining to unravel last year.

* The Suns have been without Grant Hill, who was averaging 10.7 points per game. In his absence over the 5-3 stretch, Shannon Brown (8.4) and Michael Redd (5.4) have averaged 13.8 more points per game than they had been previously.

“Hopefully, it never, ever, ever, ever ends for the rest of my career,” Brown said.

He will start tonight but it might be his final one. Hill is cleared to return to action Friday night and might start. Gentry is pondering how to handle Hill’s return.

* Memphis’ strengths are on defense and the boards. The Grizzlies have the league’s No. 6 scoring defense and lead the NBA in steals with 9.7 per game. Mike Conley is second only to Chris Paul with 2.35 per game. Tony Allen (1.7) and Rudy Gay (1.5) also rank in the top 20.

Opponents commit 17.1 turnovers per game against Memphis for the league’s second highest total and the Suns don’t want to see Conley and Rudy Gay in the open court off live-ball turnovers.

Memphis has the fifth-best rebounding percentage and does particularly good work on the offensive boards. Marc Gasol ranks 16th in the NBA at 9.5 per game but Gay and Marreese Speights are good rebounders at the forward spots and Randolph’s return bolster that area even more. Randolph has posted three consecutive double-doubles off the bench.

Memphis has experienced its own series turnaround. The Griz had a losing record until Feb. 7, when a 21-10 stretched began.

* Phoenix Phactoid Pharaoh’s Phun Phact o’ the Day: With Saturday’s and Mondays’ wins, the Suns won games by at least 20 points consecutively for the first time since Alvin Gentry’s first three games as the Suns’ head coach in February 2009.

* The assist crown is going to come down to the final games. Nash and Boston’s Rajon Rondo both are averaging 11.2 per game. Rondo has posted 17 consecutive double-digit assist games.

Post your comments on the game below:

The April 2012 Memphis Grizzlies schedule is important because the team will look to capture one of the top four seeds in the Western Conference Playoffs. The Grizzlies have some tough games in the final month of the season, but the roster is good enough to close the season with nice momentum.

The Grizzlies have 16 games during April, so it’s going to become important to conserve minutes whenever possible; made easier with some very weak opponents coming up. Two games against the New Orleans Hornet and one against the Charlotte Bobcats should help the veterans get some rest.

The regular season finale for Memphis comes at home on Thursday, April 26, against the Orlando Magic.

April 2012 Memphis Grizzlies Schedule

Monday, April 2

Memphis Grizzlies at Oklahoma City Thunder, 7 p.m. CT

Tuesday, April 3

Golden State Warriors at Memphis, 7 p.m. CT

Wednesday, April 4

Memphis at Dallas Mavericks, 7:30 p.m. CT

Friday, April 6

Memphis at Miami Heat, 6:30 p.m. CT

Saturday, April 7

Dallas Mavericks at Memphis, 7 p.m. CT

Monday, April 9

Los Angeles Clippers at Memphis, 7 p.m. T

Wednesday, April 11

Phoenix Suns at Memphis, 7 p.m. CT

Thursday, April 12

Memphis at San Antonio Spurs, 7:30 p.m. CT

Saturday, April 14

Utah Jazz at Memphis, 7 p.m. CT

Sunday, April 15

Memphis at New Orleans Hornets, 6 p.m. CT

Tuesday, April 17

Memphis at Minnesota Timberwolves, 7 p.m. CT

Wednesday, April 18

New Orleans at Memphis, 7 p.m. CT

Friday, April 20

Memphis at Charlotte Bobcats, 6 p.m. CT

Saturday, April 21

Portland Trail Blazers at Memphis, 7 p.m. CT

Monday, April 23

Cleveland Cavaliers at Memphis, 7 p.m. CT

Thursday, April 26

Orlando Magic at Memphis, 7 p.m. CT

Source:

Grizzlies Team Page

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Something is wrong right now with Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Against the Memphis Grizzlies, he finished the game 0-for-13 with only four points scored. Against the Dallas Mavericks, he finished the game 6-of-15 and against the Orlando Magic he finished 6-of-17.

Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder
Wikimedia Commons

Over those three games, he is shooting 26-percent from the field.

He has also turned the ball over 25 times in the first four games of the season, an average of 6.25 a game. On a team less talented than the Thunder, those numbers from a starting point guard would mean a lot of losses. However, the Thunder have won all their games despite Westbrook’s poor play.

Actually, the Thunder won the games partially because of his play.

In the Memphis game, he only scored four points. However, two of those were in the final seconds when he shot two free throws that put the game out of reach for the Grizzlies. In the Mavericks game, he went 3-of-4 in the final quarter of the game, including a thunderous dunk. If he missed one of those final shots, Oklahoma City would have lost.

The big problem here is that the Thunder are good but they won’t continue to lead this charmed life unless Westbrook figures out what is wrong and fixes it.

In the game against Memphis, Westbrook was playing bad and ended up taking it out on his teammates, yelling at Thabo Sefolosha for not taking a shot that Westbrook thought he should and then having an argument with Kevin Durant, who was trying to defuse the situation.

In the Dallas game, it was the same old situation. Ever since the 2010-11 postseason, no one has made me yell at my television as much as Russell Westbrook. Here he was again, missing shot after shot. Instead of just playing around his difficulties, he raced down the court and missed a quick jumper, never even looking at his teammates. He wanted to fix his shooting problems so bad that it seemed to take over the game.

Between the Memphis and Dallas game, Westbrook missed 17 shots in a row. Since then, he made six of 12 and helped make sure the Thunder would win. One important thing to notice is that, when the fourth quarter came and Westbrook got the ball in his hands, the Thunder faithful began to chant for him. He responded to the positive vibes from the crowd and turned his game up a notch.

Maybe Westbrook needs encouragement. Maybe he plays poorly when things grow negative around him. I don’t know if it is all mental, which would make sense for a 23 year old, but it is something he needs to get under control before it ruins the Thunder’s season.

Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and is an avid sports fan that has lived in Oklahoma for over 40 years. He used to religiously follow the Dallas Mavericks until Oklahoma City found a team to call their own.

Source: CBSSports.com

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One just has to look back to early May 2011 to see how deep the rivalry goes between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Memphis Grizzlies. The Western Conference semifinals went seven games with the Thunder advancing past the surprise eighth seed. The Grizzlies defeated the top team in the NBA when they outlasted the San Antonio Spurs in last season’s playoffs.

OKC comes into the game Dec. 28 undefeated at 2-0 after wins over the Orlando Magic and Minnesota Timberwolves. The Thunder are the best team in the NBA on the young yet delayed season.

Memphis lost its first game of the season in a revenge match with the Spurs. Tim Duncan and company won by a score of 95-82 on Dec. 26. Memphis hasn’t won an opening day game since 2001.

The playoff series last year was one of the best in NBA history. The Grizzlies had just upset the top seed in the Western Conference. Memphis won the first game 114-101 before OKC came back. Game 4 was a triple overtime thriller 133-123. Oklahoma City eventually won Game 7 by 15 points to advance to the Western Conference finals.

Kevin Durant was unstoppable in the series. Russell Westbrook had a triple-double in the final game. Bench players like Serge Ibaka and James Harden stepped up big to help win the day.

The shortened NBA season would seem to favor younger NBA teams in better shape. The Thunder have certainly proven they are one of the best teams in the Western Conference with their young guns. Memphis will rely on cagey veterans Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol.

A win against Memphis will propel OKC to a third straight victory to open the season. The Thunder last started a season with three wins way back in 2002 as the Seattle Supersonics. That team began the year 4-0. The Thunder are off to their best start in 10 seasons.

The key to the game will be players off the bench. Oklahoma City has to control the ball better and cut down on turnovers if they are going to keep winning. Memphis will have to win to avoid going in the hole 0-2.

William Browning is a fan of the Oklahoma City Thunder ever since the team relocated from Seattle. As the closest NBA team to Branson, Mo., the Thunder serve as the regional team for southwest Missouri.

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Memphis Grizzlies have swapped guard Greivis Vasquez to the New Orleans Hornets for guard/forward Quincy Pondexter in a move designed to boost their depth with Darrell Arthur out for the season.

The Grizzlies announced earlier Sunday they signed Dante Cunningham after Charlotte failed to match an offer. Then they later announced the trade with New Orleans.

The 6-foot-6 Pondexter averaged 13 points and 8.5 rebounds in 33 minutes in two preseason games against Memphis. The 23-year-old averaged 2.8 points and 1.3 rebounds in 66 games as a rookie with New Orleans last season after being the 26th pick overall by Oklahoma City in 2010 before being traded to New Orleans.

Vasquez played in 70 games and averaged 3.6 points and 2.2 assists as a rookie with Memphis last season.

Desiring a backup point guard with NBA experience, the New Orleans Hornets traded second-year small forward Quincy Pondexter to the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday for guard Greivis Vasquez. Vasquez, 6 feet 6, 211 pounds, can play both guard positions and averaged 3.6 points and 2.2 assists last season as a rookie with the Grizzlies.

Vasquez was a first-round pick by the Grizzlies in 2010, becoming the first Venezuelan-born player to be drafted and only the third Venezuelan to play in the league.

The Hornets have no player on their roster who was drafted by the franchise. Pondexter, 6-6, 225, was selected by the Oklahoma City Thunder as the 26th overall pick in the 2010 draft then traded to the Hornets on draft night.

Pondexter played in 66 games last season with six starts. He averaged 2.8 points and 1.3 rebounds.

Veteran center Emeka Okafor is the only remaining player on the Hornets’ roster not acquired by General Manager Dell Demps, who was hired by the Hornets in July 2010.

“We feel this is a trade that benefits both teams,’’ Demps said in a statement. “We will miss Quincy, and we thank him for his efforts, professionalism and work ethic. We are excited to add Greivis Vasquez to our team, organization and community. Greivis is an exciting big guard that plays with a passion that we hope will thrill our fans at the Hive.”

Demps had been in discussions with the Grizzlies the past few days and said he was trying to acquire a proven backup guard. Jarrett Jack moved into a starting role after Chris Paul was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers.

Staff writer Jimmy Smith contributed to this report. 

The Grizzlies announced earlier Sunday they signed Dante Cunningham after Charlotte failed to match an offer. Then they later announced the trade with New Orleans.

The 6-foot-6 Pondexter, who played at the University of Washington, averaged 13 points and 8.5 rebounds in 33 minutes in two preseason games against Memphis. The 23-year-old averaged 2.8 points and 1.3 rebounds in 66 games as a rookie with New Orleans last season after being the 26th pick overall by Oklahoma City in 2010 before being traded to New Orleans.

Vasquez played in 70 games and averaged 3.6 points and 2.2 assists as a rookie with Memphis last season.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The Memphis Grizzlies have swapped guard Greivis Vasquez to the New Orleans Hornets for guard/forward Quincy Pondexter in a move designed to boost their depth with Darrell Arthur out for the season.

The Grizzlies announced earlier Sunday they signed Dante Cunningham after Charlotte failed to match an offer. Then they later announced the trade with New Orleans.

The 6-foot-6 Pondexter averaged 13 points and 8.5 rebounds in 33 minutes in two preseason games against Memphis. The 23-year-old averaged 2.8 points and 1.3 rebounds in 66 games as a rookie with New Orleans last season after being the 26th pick overall by Oklahoma City in 2010 before being traded to New Orleans.

Vasquez played in 70 games and averaged 3.6 points and 2.2 assists as a rookie with Memphis last season.

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