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Sports

Grizzlies beat Thunder 111-105 in OT to tie series

Cliff Brunt - The Philippine Star

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Zach Randolph scored 25 points to help the Memphis Grizzlies defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder111-105 in overtime on Monday night and tie their first-round playoff series at one game apiece.

Mike Conley added 19 points and 12 assists for the Grizzlies.

Kevin Durant had 36 points and 11 rebounds for the Thunder. Russell Westbrook scored 29 points for Oklahoma City, but he made just 11 of 28 shots.

Randolph's layup with 26 seconds left in overtime put the Grizzlies up by two. Oklahoma City's Serge Ibaka traveled, giving the ball back to the Grizzlies. Courtney Lee made two free throws for Memphis to make it a four-point game. Durant missed a 3-pointer and Randolph made two free throws with nine seconds left to put the game out of reach.

Game 3 is Thursday night in Memphis.

The Thunder trailed by nine early in the fourth quarter, but they finally took the lead when Thabo Sefolosha stole the ball from Randolph, leading to a dunk by Durant with 1:14 remaining.

Mike Miller came back with a 3-pointer to put Memphis up 95-93 with 53.7 seconds left.

Westbrook missed a 3-pointer and Memphis rebounded. Conley missed the first free throw and made the second to make it a three-point game.

Tony Allen stole the ball from Durant, and Conley made two free throws with 18.1 seconds left to push the Grizzlies' lead to five.

Durant answered with a miraculous four-point play with 13.8 seconds remaining. He hit a 3-pointer from the corner as he was being pushed out of bounds by Marc Gasol. Durant then converted the free throw to make it a one-point game.

Conley made one of two free throws with 12 seconds left to make it 99-97. Westbrook missed a wild 3-pointer in the closing seconds, but Kendrick Perkins, who hadn't made a field goal all game, scored on a putback as time expired to force overtime.

NOTES: Memphis F Tayshaun Prince, who played just 4:27 in the opener because of a stomach ailment, started, but played just 14 minutes. ... Ibaka, who led the league in total blocks this season and was second in blocks per game, finished fourth in the Defensive Player of the Year balloting. He finished third in 2013 and second in 2012. Chicago's Joakim Noah won the award this year. ... Ibaka won the NBA's Community Assist Award for April in recognition of his charitable efforts in his home country, the Republic of the Congo. ... The Thunder shot 26.3 percent in the first quarter and fell behind 24-16. ... Memphis' Beno Udrih, a third-string point guard whose minutes have increased because backup Nick Calathes is serving a drug suspension, scored eight of his 14 points in the fourth quarter.

BENO UDRIH

COMMUNITY ASSIST AWARD

CONLEY

COURTNEY LEE

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

GAME

IBAKA

JOAKIM NOAH

KENDRICK PERKINS

OKLAHOMA CITY

RANDOLPH

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