{"id":81866,"date":"2025-06-06T23:45:16","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T23:45:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/81866\/"},"modified":"2025-06-06T23:45:16","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T23:45:16","slug":"okc-thunder-answers-every-memphis-grizzlies-run-to-go-up-2-0-in-nba-playoffs-5-takeaways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/81866\/","title":{"rendered":"OKC Thunder answers every Memphis Grizzlies run to go up 2-0 in NBA Playoffs | 5 takeaways"},"content":{"rendered":"

The OKC Thunder<\/a> secured a 118-99 home win over the Memphis Grizzlies<\/a> on Tuesday in Game 2 of the first-round<\/a> NBA playoff<\/a> series.<\/p>\n

Here are five takeaways from the game:<\/p>\n

CARLSON: Thunder beating Grizzlies at own game, controlling pace and NBA playoff series<\/a><\/p>\n

OKC Thunder established early dominance once again<\/p>\n

As the top team in the league, OKC is used to getting everyone’s best shot. But that doesn’t mean it can’t also land some haymakers.<\/p>\n

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For the second game in a row, the Thunder struck first. It claimed a 32-17 lead at the end of the opening quarter, and it set the tone defensively.<\/p>\n

Driving lanes turned into traffic jams. Shooting windows were slammed shut. And every pass was a flight risk against an OKC defense that was eager to intercept it.<\/p>\n

The Thunder went on a 9-0 run to start the game and never relinquished its lead en route to the wire-to-wire win.<\/p>\n

More: Why ‘watch the games’ sentiment remains relevant for OKC Thunder amid NBA Playoffs<\/a><\/p>\n

Alex Caruso wasted no time letting it fly<\/p>\n

As the rest of his teammates entered the locker room following OKC’s practice on Monday, Alex Caruso stayed back to get some extra shots up.<\/p>\n

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The veteran guard didn’t shoot the ball once in 12 minutes of action during the Thunder’s Game 1 win. But he showed no lack of ability on the practice floor as he drilled one 3-pointer after the other.<\/p>\n

And when Caruso checked into Game 2 late in the first quarter, he didn’t waste any time letting it fly. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander zipped a pass to Caruso, who confidently knocked down a triple.<\/p>\n

Caruso finished with 13 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals.<\/p>\n

More: Why OU women’s gymnastics has big fan in OKC Thunder coach Mark Daigneault<\/a><\/p>\n

Foul trouble was the only thing that could stop Jaren Jackson Jr.<\/p>\n

After a slow start, Memphis’ offense found its rhythm in the second quarter.<\/p>\n

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The Grizzlies scored on four of their first five possessions, and Jaren Jackson Jr. got the ball rolling with a 10-foot floater.<\/p>\n

But that momentum hit a speed bump at the 9:52 mark when Jackson picked up his third foul of the night, which forced him to sit on the bench. He didn’t check back in until there was 4:34 left until halftime, and Memphis trailed 55-38 at that point.<\/p>\n

Foul trouble was the only thing that could stop Jackson, who finished with 26 points, and that’s a common theme. The All-Star forward averaged a league-high 3.5 fouls per game during the regular season.<\/p>\n

More: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander may be the next MVP, but can he be the face of the NBA his way?<\/a><\/p>\n

OKC Thunder aced its first test of the playoffs in the fourth quarter<\/p>\n

After trailing by as many as 23 points, Memphis cut the deficit to 90-79 at the end of the third quarter.<\/p>\n

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It marked the first taste of trouble this postseason for OKC, which could do no wrong through the series’ first seven quarters, and it responded well.<\/p>\n

The Thunder launched a 9-0 run to begin the fourth quarter. Caruso began the scoring spree with a 3-pointer, and he also ended it with a 7-foot jumper.<\/p>\n

OKC ultimately secured the win. Gilgeous-Alexander led the charge with 27 points on 10-for-29 shooting, while Jalen Williams added 24 points on 10-for-19 shooting.<\/p>\n

More: How Jalen Williams went from little known OKC Thunder draft pick to NBA All-Star<\/a><\/p>\n

OKC Thunder is firmly in control of this series<\/p>\n

With the win Tuesday, OKC now has a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. And history suggests that it has a strong chance of advancing.<\/p>\n

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NBA teams are 425-34 all-time (92.6%) when they take a 2-0 lead in a playoff series. The Thunder is 5-0 in those situations.<\/p>\n

Game 3 is set for 8:30 p.m. CT Thursday in Memphis.<\/p>\n

More: Mark Daigneault had respect from NBA coaching peers even before OKC Thunder’s rise<\/a><\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Thunder beats Memphis Grizzlies again, goes up 2-0 in NBA Playoffs<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The OKC Thunder secured a 118-99 home win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday in Game 2 of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81867,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3795],"tags":[328,7,294,364,496,293,177,4070,6,878,209],"class_list":{"0":"post-81866","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-memphis-grizzlies","8":"tag-alex-caruso","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-grizzlies","11":"tag-jalen-williams","12":"tag-jaren-jackson-jr","13":"tag-memphis","14":"tag-memphis-grizzlies","15":"tag-memphisgrizzlies","16":"tag-nba","17":"tag-okc-thunder","18":"tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114639085514562867","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81866\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}