Notebook: Thunder 101, Grizzlies 94

By Randy Renner, for NBA.com
Posted Friday February 3, 2012 11:57PM

THE FACTS: The Oklahoma City Thunder saved their best for last, outscoring the Memphis Grizzlies 32-17 in the fourth quarter and OKC's Kevin Durant scored seven points and grabbed two rebounds in the last :53.8 seconds of the game to give the Thunder a thrilling 101-94 come-from-behind win over the visiting Grizzlies.

Oklahoma City trailed by as many as 11 points and didn't regain the lead until late in the contest.

Durant led all scorers with 36 points. He drilled his only 3-pointer of the night, after missing his first five attempts from long-range, with just less than a minute to play giving his team a 97-94 lead. He followed that up with an 18-foot jumper to give the Thunder its biggest lead then was fouled grabbing a rebound. Durant hit both foul shots to finish off his seven point run and the Grizzlies hopes.

Thunder sixth man James Harden added 24 points, including four 3-pointers and Russell Westbrook added 21. The Grizzlies were led by center Marc Gasol's 24 points. Gasol only managed two points in the critical fourth quarter, both coming from the line. After going 9-for-12 in the first three quarters he was held without a shot attempt in the fourth. Rudy Gay had 23 and Tony Allen added 17 for the Griz.

Oklahoma City moves to 18-4, the best record in the NBA and the second best in franchise history after 22 games. Memphis falls to 12-11.

QUOTABLE: "We were flat and sluggish for some reason for much of the game but our crowd picked us up and we finished well. Our bigs did a great job of not letting him [Gasol] even get the ball to take a shot."
-- Thunder coach Scott Brooks

QUOTABLE II: "They made a lot of big shots and got to the free throw line and we did not. We started taking too many jump shots coming down the stretch but my guys played really hard. They just didn't have enough in the tank."
-- Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins

THE STAT: In the fourth quarter, Oklahoma City shot 61.1 percent while holding Memphis to just 27.8. The Thunder blocked five shots and forced five turnovers in the final 12 minutes.

TURNING POINT: With Oklahoma City trailing 80-73 early in the fourth quarter, Harden scored on a driving layup, blocked a shot at the other end and then nailed a 3-pointer to bring his team to within 80-78. Harden then hit another three ball to tie the game at 81 and bring the noise level inside sold-out Chesapeake Energy Arena up several decibels. After Nick Collison hit a free throw to give OKC an 82-81 lead, they never trailed again.

QUOTABLE III: "The first four minutes James [Harden] was in [in the fourth quarter] were really good and KD made plays at the basket and made shots when we needed them."
-- Scott Brooks

HOT: Durant started the game hitting four of his first six shots ... Gasol was 5-for-5 in the first half and 9-for-12 at the end of three quarters ... In the fourth quarter, Durant was 5-for-7 and scored 16 points ... Harden was 4-for-5 in the fourth.

NOT: Memphis guards Mike Conley and Allen combined to shoot 2-for-10 in the first quarter...Thunder guard Daequan Cook missed his first five shots...The Thunder missed 10 of their first 11 shots in the second quarter...Westbrook was 4-for-10 at halftime...O.J. Mayo was 0-for-5 in the fourth quarter and Gasol was 0-for-0.

GOOD MOVE: Brooks went with a small lineup for most of the fourth quarter using guards Westbrook, Harden and Cook. The Grizzlies had no answer.

QUOTABLE IV: "Every time we've played them they've gone small on us, they played us. They hurt us in the fourth quarter with that small lineup."
-- Lionel Hollins

GOOD MOVE, TOO: Durant drove into the lane and went up for an apparent eight foot jumper but instead he fired a no-look pass to the left corner for a wide open Cook. Cook was 0-for-5 at the time but he nailed the 3-pointer.

NOTABLE: Oklahoma City is now 9-0 in games played on the weekend (Fri-Sun)...Durant has scored 30+ points in three of his last four games...Gay has scored 20-plus points in nine of the last 13 games...OKC has won all three games with Memphis so far this season, each one by single digits.

UP NEXT: For the Grizzlies, Sunday @ Boston, Monday vs. San Antonio, Wednesday vs. Minnesota. For the Thunder, Saturday @ San Antonio, Monday @ Portland, Tuesday @ Golden State.