Thunder Vs. Grizzlies, Game 2: Can Zach Randolph Continue Rampage?

Zach Randolph has been a beast much of his career, with pit stops in New York and Los Angeles rendering him an undisciplined black hole gunner for a few years. No one has ever questioned Z-Bo's post moves, only his motivation to use them. In the Memphis Grizzlies' Game 1 win against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday, Randolph racked up 34 points on 12-22 shooting with nine big free throws; clearly, right now, Z-Bo is going hard in the paint.

It's unclear the Thunder are fit to stop Memphis' killer post attack, just as the 61-win San Antonio Spurs were unfit to stop Memphis' killer post attack. In addition to Randolph's huge afternoon, Marc Gasol put up a big 20-spot, hitting nine of 11 shots and capturing 13 rebounds. Wasn't Serge Ibaka Flocka supposed to be the big new frontcourt star of these NBA Playoffs?

Ibaka handled business OK with 16-11-5, but he and Kendrick Perkins were shredded regularly on defense. The Thunder has to push the Memphis big men out of good position early -- a tough task -- and then hope Randolph makes bad decisions (contested jumpers, out-of-control drives) and Gasol is deferential. It's a tough challenge, but Memphis' guards aren't nearly as good offensively as Memphis' bigs. Make the guards beat you.

It'll be for naught if Russell Westbrook doesn't shape up. He hit just nine of 23 shots in Game 1, and coughed up seven turnovers. Memphis was the league's best in creating turnovers in the regular season, and they'll continue to watch Westbrook, prone to being a split-second late on passes that need to be timed perfectly. Westbrook either needs to barrel into the lane and force the Memphis bigs to risk foul trouble, or needs to let Kevin Durant (21 FGAs in Game 1) create more often.