Memphis Grizzlies: 3 keys to victory at Oklahoma City Thunder

The Memphis Grizzlies won a nail-biter in overtime against the Boston Celtics on Monday. They lucked out, as they had the opportunity to play a Celtics team without Kemba Walker and Jayson Tatum.

The Grizz will be happy to have gotten the win, but won’t feel particularly great about how they performed. Against a decimated team that had played a day earlier, they weren’t able to close it out until late in overtime.

They’ll look to build off of two straight wins against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday, a team that left a sour taste in their mouth in their last matchup.

The last two times these teams faced off, the Grizzlies blew a late lead to a Thunder team that was playing a lineup filled with G-League players. Most notably, Aleksej Pokusevski dropped 23 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, a block and a steal. He made it look easy, too.

The Memphis Grizzlies will buckle down in game 3 against OKC

This time, the Grizzlies won’t make it so easy for the Thunder. Oklahoma City will likely have less injury-related issues, which somehow seems like an advantage for a Grizzlies team that punches above its weight class.

The logic here is that Memphis has found success against more difficult teams, struggling against poor injury-riddled teams along the way.

In all seriousness, this is a game that the Grizzlies should win. Expect Jonas Valanciunas‘s double-double streak to continue and Ja Morant to get on a roll.

Here are 3 keys to victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder.