Thunder cruise past Grizzlies, pull within half-game of playoff spot

The Oklahoma City Thunder are almost all the way there.

It's been a long and arduous road, but with an emphatic 105-89 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday, the Thunder find themselves entering the All-Star break just a half-game out of the playoffs at 28-25.

With the Phoenix Suns and New Orleans Pelicans struggling, the Thunder have won five of six to gain some ground, putting them firmly within striking distance. Considering all of the injuries they've dealt with - and the fact they started the year 3-12 - it's impressive to be knocking on the door in mid-February.

Also impressive is beating the Grizzlies, who've been dominant against good teams all season. At 39-14, only two teams own better records than Memphis, and the Thunder made them look like relative push-overs.

The Grizzlies shot a woeful 37.2 percent from the floor, hit just two triples and were out-rebounded, with only Zach Randolph (16 points, 11 rebounds, four assists) playing up to his usual standard. In particular, Marc Gasol (2-of-10 shooting) struggled, even on the defensive end, where the Grizzlies were uncharacteristic all night.

Defense is tough against the Thunder when both Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant are playing, a relative rarity this season. The tag-team partners combined for 50 points, 19 rebounds and 12 assists on 13-of-30 shooting.

Entering play Wednesday, the Thunder only had Westbrook and Durant together for 25 games, but had outscored opponents by 6.9 points per-100 possessions when the pair took the floor together, a rate better than every team in the league but the Golden State Warriors. Suffice it to say, every top team in the West is probably hoping to avoid the Thunder in an opening round match-up.