Tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN the injury-riddled Oklahoma City Thunder (1-4) will attempt to hand the Memphis Grizzlies (5-0) their first loss of the young NBA season. Live stream the game free by clicking this link; Thunder fans can hear the radio broadcast on WWLS 98.1, while Grizzlies fans may do likewise by turning their dials to 92.9 FM ESPN.
The Thunder are trying to get by without the superstar duo of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, out with foot and hand injuries respectively. Their secondary scorers haven't been on the court together either-Reggie Jackson is just returning from an early malady while breakout forward Perry Jones III is dealing with a knee contusion.
"We just have to be able to adjust," veteran center Kendrick Perkins said. "The main thing is playing hard and playing with effort, trying to get through it. ... We're just recovering and getting ready for Friday."
Head coach Scott Brooks is imploring the undermanned squad to play smart on offense and give maximum effort on defense. "You want to give yourself a chance to win the game. That's by playing committed basketball with a lot of effort on both ends of the floor," Brooks said.
"Going forward, we have to keep doing that. We have a good group of guys who are willing to continue to play that way." If they do, they may resemble their 5-0 opponent.
"We got contributions from a lot of different places," Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger said. "When we got stops and got rebounds we were able to get out and get some easy buckets which is difficult for us, which is great for us."
The Grizzlies are the top defensive team in the NBA in points per game allowed (86.2), while their big man duo of Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph combine to pitch in 38.4 points and 18.8 rebounds a night.
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