After the opening ceremony, the starting lineups for both teams were unveiled.
Thunders: Westbrook, Afflalo, James, Ibaka, Little Lopez
Grizzlies: Conley, Hansen, Guy, Randolph, Little Gasol
Ibaka won the jump ball for the Thunders, and the game started immediately.
The Grizzlies set up a 2-1-2 zone defense right from the start, with Hansen taking the "1" position.
The playoffs are not the regular season; Joerger wasn’t about to be polite to them.
Westbrook, holding the ball, performed a pick and roll with Lopez, then pressed the accelerator and charged inside.
The Grizzlies quickly closed in, but Westbrook’s sudden stop-and-pop jumper scored, giving the Thunders an early lead.
On the return play, the Grizzlies operated in the frontcourt with Little Gasol and Randolph playing the high-low post, with Randolph grinding against Ibaka to score inside.
Westbrook tried the same move, but this time his mid-range shot veered off under Hansen’s interference.
The Grizzlies continued to play in their half-court set, and as Randolph drew the defensive attention, Hansen cut in from the weak side, shook off Afflalo with a pass from Randolph, and scored with a one-handed dunk.
That instant ignited the emotions of the crowd.
Compared to the regular season, Hansen’s desire to compete was significantly higher.
The Thunders switched to James, who posted up Guy, but met Conley’s help defense, passing the ball to Westbrook. Westbrook’s three-point attempt was fortunately disturbed by Hansen and missed, with Little Gasol securing the rebound.
The Grizzlies still played their half-court offense, this time Hansen drove and drew a double-team before passing the ball to Guy.
Guy’s three-point attempt was off, but Little Gasol grabbed the offensive rebound, scoring directly over Little Lopez.
There was a foul by Little Lopez on the play, but the referees didn’t blow the whistle.
However, with a preventive warning from Joerger, Little Gasol just signaled to the referees and then retreated.
James took the ball and charged straight inside.
He knew the Grizzlies were playing a zone defense, this move was like carrying a bag of explosives, obviously aiming to draw a foul.
But as he leaped up, ready to find contact, Little Gasol and Hansen dodged to the left and right.
Mid-air, he suddenly lost his point of leverage, and his whole body lost balance.
Despite instinctively spreading his legs to try and maintain control, his coordination was simply too poor, and he could only manage to toss the ball away while in the air.
With no contact on the shot, the referees had no chance to blow the whistle.
The ball finally bounced off the front of the rim, with Little Gasol again securing the rebound.
Guy had already broken past the three-point line, received Little Gasol’s pass, took three big steps to the frontcourt, and showed a 360-windmill dunk.
Once again, the crowd’s emotions ignited, feeling a different intensity not just from Hansen compared to the regular season.
Although Westbrook gave the Thunders the first score, the Grizzlies surged ahead, playing a perfect opening sequence.
Teams coming off a long rest might exhibit two states: one where they need time to warm up and regain their feel for the game, and another where they are full of energy, like beasts released from a cage after a long confinement.
Clearly, the Grizzlies belonged to the latter category.
This had something to do with their own playing style, of course, but it was also related to the emotional charge provided by the Thunders.
After all, for the defending champions, the first round is usually the lowest in terms of emotion, but because the opponent was the "shocking kneeling" version of the Thunders, their emotions were instantly maxed out.
The camera again focused on James, whose face now bore no trace of a smile.
If the game continued , the Grizzlies might not even need half the quarter to break the Thunders apart.
At a critical moment, the referees realized that they had to step up their game.
Guy was called for two defensive fouls in a row while guarding James’ post-up moves, sending James straight to the free throw line.
Guy couldn’t help laughing at the calls, but he didn’t say anything and just turned to sub out.
Joerger didn’t substitute Battier, but instead chose the faster-footed Vince Carter.
His defensive strategy tonight was very clear: prevent penetration and allow the outside shot.
When James went to the line, a familiar chant suddenly started in the audience.
This chant, once used by Knight fans to mock the Celtics, seemed particularly apt at this moment.
After all, James, the Chosen One, started getting more calls after his "shocking kneeling", making it crystal clear who the daddy was.
The photographers, adept at capturing the moment, gave Hansen a close-up.
James, stone-faced, made one of the two free throws.
On the Grizzlies’ offense, Hansen’s drive, drawing James’ help defense, passed the ball to Carter without looking.
James showed his help defense skills by moving quickly back to guard Carter.
But he regretted it immediately because he hadn’t expected Carter to suddenly fly up from the ground.
Just because Carter could no longer dunk like he had in his youth, didn’t mean he couldn’t dunk at all.
After all, this was Vince Carter! Latest content publıshed on 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⟡𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕥⟡𝕟𝕖𝕥
Carter’s quick leap surprised James, who couldn’t even extend his arms to stop him, as Carter completed the poster dunk over him.
Carter, in his signature style, almost fed James a knee in the air.
The arena erupted instantly.
What a blast from the past!
As Carter landed, he too was excited, mockingly performing his iconic "motorcycle" celebration towards the camera.
This sent the crowd into a frenzy once again.
When the Grizzlies traded away Crawford, the Memphis people had felt some regret, for he was their "Super Six".
But with Carter completing that dunk, any sense of loss vanished in an instant.