Thunder-Grizzlies Game 7 quoteboard: Zach Randolph complimentary of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook

Memphis guard Tony Allen: "There are things we need to work on as a team but as long as we're all together and use this as a steppingstone. … I mean, look at the Oklahoma City Thunder. Last year, they lost to the champs (Los Angeles Lakers) and now they're playing for the Western Conference Finals. We can just use them as an example as we move forward next year."

Memphis power forward Zach Randolph: "Durant is a special player. He's one of the best players in the NBA. He works hard and he's one of my favorite players. I have to give him kudos and a lot of respect because you see what he does. He's just relentless."

Thunder coach Scott Brooks: "It was a great series. I give our guys a lot of credit, also. They stayed with it. Going in to this series, we knew that it was going to be a tough challenge for us. We were up for that challenge, and we continued to fight."

Brooks: "The biggest challenge was to keep them out of the paint or off the offensive glass. … They are big. They are strong and very skilled down there."

Randolph: "(Russell) Westbrook played good today. He played facilitative ball and passed the ball and got a lot of people involved, but he's a great player, too. They have two great players and they played good tonight."

Memphis coach Lionel Hollins: "The whole game came down to we didn't make shots. Whatever run we made or were doing, we were shooting 39 percent. That is improved from our 36 percent at halftime. We gave up 17 points in transition from turnovers. We also lost the rebounding battle."

Memphis guard O.J. Mayo: "I think the main thing is home-court advantage. You go into a Game 7 and both teams are tired. Both teams are exhausted about talking about each other. I thought the crowd did a great job of giving them some energy. They made some shots tonight and they won. They played a great game."

Allen: "It was a great season for us and something we can build on. Nobody is happy with a loss. Obviously it hurts. But, at the same time, I can look back and know that we had good moments throughout this year. There is definitely room for improvement."