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OKC Thunder Play Memphis Grizzlies in Playoff… |
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. Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content. Gotta run!. Posted in nba, Uncategorized | Comments Off
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Grizzlies 2011 Preseason Schedule |
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Memphis Grizzlies 2011 preseason schedule, released Thursday by the NBA, is highlighted by a nationally televised matchup with the Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat, which tips off TNT’s coverage of the 2011 preseason on Oct. 20 at 7 p.m. at FedExForum. The Grizzlies will open the 2011 preseason on the road against the Orlando Magic on Oct. 9 before hosting the Charlotte Bobcats on Oct. 11 to tip-off a four-game homestand at FedExForum. The homestand, which accounts for all four of the Grizzlies preseason home games, also features contests against the Milwaukee Bucks (Oct. 13), Golden State Warriors (Oct. 15) and the Heat (Oct. 20). Memphis will close its eight-game preseason slate on the road against the Washington Wizards (Oct. 22), Indiana Pacers (Oct. 25) and Bobcats (Oct. 27) in preparation for the teams Nov. 2 regular season opener at the Los Angeles Clippers. The Grizzlies enter the 2011 exhibition slate with a nine-game preseason winning streak following a perfect 8-0 mark in 2010. The Grizzlies preseason success foreshadowed a memorable 2010-11 campaign that saw Memphis return to the playoffs for the first time since 2006 and secure a first-round upset over the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs before falling to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a thrilling seven-game series. MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES 2011 PRESEASON SCHEDULE That’s all for today. |
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Magic would face Heat, Maccabi Haifa during… |
By Josh Robbins Orlando Sentinel 2:25 p.m. EDT, August 18, 2011
The Orlando Magic would open their schedule of eight preseason exhibitions on Oct. 9 against the Memphis Grizzlies at Amway Center if the NBA’s labor dispute is solved in time. The preseason schedule also includes an exhibition against the Miami Heat on Oct. 11 in Miami and a friendly game against Maccabi Haifa — a team in Israel’s top pro league — on Oct. 23 in Orlando. The Magic would play four exhibitions at home and four exhibitions on the road. This year, all of the road exhibitions would be played in NBA cities. In 2010, the Magic faced the Houston Rockets in McAllen, Texas, just miles from the U.S. border with Mexico. The Magic also had an exhibition scheduled against the Heat in Tampa at the St. Pete Times Forum, but that had to be cancelled because the court was too slippery. The NBA released the 2011 preseason schedule on Thursday afternoon. It might have been an exercise in futilitty. It appears unlikely that the NBA’s owners and the players’ union will agree to a new collective bargaining agreement in time for the preseason to be played in its entirety. This is the Magic’s preseason schedule as it stands now: Oct. 9 MEMPHIS 6 p.m. Oct. 11 @ Miami 7:30 p.m. Oct. 13 CLEVELAND 7 p.m. Oct. 15 @ Indiana 7 p.m. Oct. 18 @ New Orleans 8 p.m. Oct. 20 @ San Antonio 8:30 p.m. Oct. 23 MACCABI HAIFA 6 p.m. Oct. 27 DETROIT 7 p.m. jbrobbins@tribune.com. Read his blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/magicblog. Subscribe to our Orlando Magic newsletter at OrlandoSentinel.com/joinus. Subscribe to our feed!. |
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