Rapid reaction: Oklahoma City smokes Memphis 106-89

By Anthony Slater – Aslater@opubco.com - @anthonyVslater

The Thunder cruised past Memphis 106-89 in Oklahoma City on Thursday. Here’s some rapid reaction:

Turning point

The Thunder made its first nine shots of the game. That’s the best start in OKC history and the most makes to begin a game by any NBA team this year. So essentially, it was over in the first few minutes, with the Thunder never trailing in the game.

It was over when…

…Memphis shipped Rudy Gay to Toronto a day before the game started. Now I’m not saying the Grizzlies are suddenly a borderline playoff team with a roster incapable of competing with OKC. But the sudden trade (which seemed to shock many of Memphis’ key players) basically handed this one to the Thunder on a silver platter. Gay’s 17.4 point per game average was gone and no one was here in time to replace him, with all the key pieces still caught up in post-trade semantics. The Grizzlies only suited up nine and none of them played with much energy.

Star of the game – Kevin Durant

It was a smooth and easy 27 points for Kevin Durant, who abused the undersized Tony Allen (a great defender who was a little out of his element guarding a sharpshooting superstar six inches taller than him). He went 10-of-16 from the field, consistently shooting down Memphis rallies with a perfect sense of when to take over the game.