Crowd Chants “Beat LA” as Thunder Wins Last Game

Originally Published: Apr 14, 2010 10:12 PM CDT

Stephany Speck
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

OKLAHOMA CITY --The Oklahoma City Thunder gave its home-court crowd the 50th win of the season Wednesday night, as the team played its last regular season game in the Ford Center.

The Thunder (50-32) handed the Grizzlies (40-42) a 114-105 loss, holding Memphis to below .500 for the season. Kevin Durant finished with 31 points becoming the youngest player in NBA history to average 30 points per game for a season. He also surpassed LeBron James to rank first in league scoring, averaging 30.1 points.

Eric Maynor gave a strong performance, finishing with a double-double after scoring 15 points and dishing 10 assists. Jeff Green added 16 points, while Thabo Sefolosha added 10. Serge Ibaka was just shy of a double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds on the night. Russell Westbrook ended his night with nine points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

The sell-out crowd ended the game by chanting “Beat L.A.” to the team, as the Thunder will face the No. 1 Lakers.

Many teams in the NBA chose to sit their star players, opting for rest before the playoffs begin, but the Thunder played as usual after dropping four of its last five prior to Wednesday’s game.

Oklahoma City polished its defense against the Grizzlies, never allowing them to come close to tying the game. They held a 22-point lead at halftime, but saw Memphis sneak back to within six points late in the second half. The Thunder tightened its defense and grew the margin back to nine points to finish the game.

The Grizzlies’ Rudy Gay led his team with 25 points, while Zach Randolph finished with a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds. O.J. Mayo ended with 17 points, five assists and six rebounds.