Grizzlies-Thunder. Game Seven. 2:30 p.m. ABC.
Five thoughts ahead of the action:
Matching the Energy: The Grizzlies fed off crowd energy in Game 6. Now Oklahoma City will have a raucous home crowd at their backs. Look for the Thunder to open the game with a burst of energy. The Grizzlies will have to match it. Obvious, but still key.
Putting the Best Lineups on the Floor/Shrinking the Rotation: My pre-game for Game 6 was in large part about how the team had faired in the post-season with different combinations of players on the wing and about how the most-common lineups (Tony Allen and Sam Young) were not the most effective (O.J. Mayo and Shane Battier, Mayo and Allen). I called for lineup and rotation changes and though I’m sure that had nothing to do with the outcome, we got them: Mayo and Allen started, Mayo and Battier mostly closed, and, interestingly, the Allen/Young combo never played together. The result was good for Zach Randolph and good for the team.
My quick calculation of the Game 6 plus/minus for each wing combo:
Mayo/Allen: +7
Mayo/Battier: +17
Allen/Battier: +1
Young/Battier: +1
Mayo/Young: -12
