It's been 38 days since the Thunder has won a game in the Ford Center. Riding a 10-game home losing streak, the drought will last at least 44 days. Oklahoma City's next home game isn't until Tuesday against the Los Angeles Clippers.
"This is tough," said Kevin Durant. "We were up by (21), and they made that run to get back in it. It's frustrating. We work so hard in practice, and we wanted this win so bad. But we can't get down." ONE BAD QUARTER
Players and coaches talk of playing a full 48 minutes, but the Thunder has been plagued by one bad quarter. This time, it was the fourth quarter. After getting off to a rare fast start, the Thunder was outscored 32-19 in the fourth quarter. The Grizzlies shot 70.6 percent (12-of-17) the final period.
"We didn't get stops in the fourth quarter," said Thunder interim coach Scott Brooks. "We've talked about that and stressed the past couple of days in practice and shoot-around, it's so important to lock down (defensively), especially in the fourth quarter."
BIG PICTURE PERSPECTIVE
The frustration from having lost 19 of their last 20 games was evident on players' faces after the game.
"The only way to attack it is to go through it," Brooks said. "There's no way you can let it stop you from where you want to go. I understand everyone in the locker room is not feeling good about it... It's what we have to go through. It's difficult."
Brooks even got a little philosophical.
"You learn from situations like this, not only Basketball, athletic lessons but life lessons," Brooks said. "One day all of us are going to look back at this and say, 'Wow, that was a tough experience but look what I'm doing now. I'm better from it.' Eventually that's going to happen."
WILCOX INJURED
Forward Chris Wilcox suffered a dislocated left ring finger in the first quarter and did not return. It's uncertain what Wilcox's status will be for this weekend's games at Dallas and San Antonio, which are a combined 17-4 the past three weeks.
FAST BREAK
The Thunder is now 1-9 under Brooks. ... The Thunder collected 1,500 toys for the Salvation Army before the game. ... Joe Smith, playing for the first time without a mask since suffering a broken nose in preseason, scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds... Memphis snapped a seven-game road losing streak. The Grizzlies are now 2-10 on the road, the other win coming at Golden State... Brooks, who believes the only way to improve is practice, planned a workout today but late Wednesday night decided to give players the day off.
