OKLAHOMA CITY — Zach Randolph scored eight of his 25 points in overtime to spark the Memphis Grizzlies over Oklahoma City 111-105 Monday, equalizing their NBA playoff series at one win each. Mike Conley added 19 points and 12 assists while Spaniard Marc Gasol and Courtney Lee each added 16 points for Memphis, which will host the next two games in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round matchup Thursday and Saturday. In the night's other NBA playoff game, Blake Griffin scored 35 points and the Los Angeles Clippers routed visiting Golden State 138-98 to level their playoff series at 1-1 with game three Thursday at Oakland. “We just relaxed a little bit and played our game,” Griffin said. “We ran our offense and that opened up some shots.” At Oklahoma City, NBA regular-season scoring champion Kevin Durant netted 36 points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds, but it was not enough to lift the hosts past the Grizzlies, who ousted the Thunder from last year's playoffs. Russell Westbrook added 29 points and nine assists and Spaniard Serge Ibaka had 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Thunder. Durant made a spectacular play to help deny Memphis a regulation-time triumph. Durant took a pass from Westbrook at the left corner of the court and, while being fouled and falling backwards out of bounds, lofted a 3-point basket and added a free throw to lift Oklahoma City within 98-97 with 13.8 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Conley went 1-of-2 from the line for the second time in the dying seconds to boost Memphis' lead to 99-97. Westbrook missed a 3-point attempt but the Thunder's Kendrick Perkins grabbed the rebound and banked in a basket on his only shot of the game as time expired to level the score at 99-99 and force overtime. Randolph hit two early baskets in overtime as Memphis took a four-point lead, but Durant answered with a 3-pointer and a later free throw to pull Oklahoma City level at 105-105. Randolph hit a layup to put Memphis back on top and, after Ibaka was called for traveling, Westbrook was forced to foul Lee, who hit two free throws to put the Grizzlies ahead 109-105. Randolph hit two final free throws to produce the final Memphis victory margin. At Los Angeles, Griffin scored 21 points in the first half, helping the Clippers seize a 67-41 half-time lead on the way to a lopsided triumph. Danny Granger added 15 points as seven players were double-digit scorers for the Clippers. Steph Curry scored 24 points to lead the Warriors in a losing cause. Chicago's Noah named Defensive Player of the Year Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah, the mainstay of a team that kept foes to a league-low 91.8 points a game, was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Monday. The son of French tennis legend Yannick Noah and former Miss Sweden Cecilia Rodhe averaged 12.6 points, 11.3 rebounds, 1.5 blocked shots and 1.2 steals a game for the Bulls this season. Noah, 29, became the first Bulls player to win the award since Michael Jordan in 1988. The Bulls are in the first round of the NBA playoffs, having lost their opener to the Washington Wizards, and Noah stressed he owes the honor to the work of his teammates as well as himself. “This game is not about awards. It's about winning. These awards are great but they are not why I play the game.” Noah said he owes much of his work ethic to his father and watching his determination on the tennis court. Noah received 555 of a possible 1,125 points, including 100 first-place votes from a media panel, to defeat runner-up Roy Hibbert of Indiana, who had 166 points and eight first-place votes. The Los Angeles Clippers' DeAndre Jordan was third on 121 points with eight first-place votes. Woodson and Corbin out Mike Woodson and Tyrone Corbin lost their NBA coaching jobs, and Rick Adelman decided it was time to walk away from his. Woodson and Corbin were fired Monday and Adelman retired, creating coaching openings for three NBA teams. Woodson was expected to be replaced after Phil Jackson was hired last month as New York Knicks president during a disappointing season for a team that expected to make the playoffs. He informed Woodson and the entire coaching staff they were being dismissed. “The coaches and players on this team had an extremely difficult 2013-14 season, and blame should not be put on one individual. But the time has come for change throughout the franchise as we start the journey to assess and build this team for next season and beyond,” Jackson said in a statement. — Agencies
