Off Topic » the reigning Defensive Player of the Year returned

The Oklahoma City Thunder and Memphis Grizzlies will renew their postseason rivalry Saturday night when the two squads meet at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Catch the game on TSN2 starting at 9:30pm et/6:30pm pt. For the third time in four seasons, the Thunder will face the Grizzlies in the playoffs. OKC dispatched the Grizz in the second round following the 2010-11 season, but Memphis evened the score one year ago. The Grizzlies eliminated the Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals last season. Granted, Oklahoma City was without the services of All-Star guard Russell Westbrook, but this seasons first-round battle will be the rubber match. "Its going to be a tough but fun series," OKC star Kevin Durant said. "We have a lot of history with these guys. Were looking forward to getting the opportunity to play for a championship." Durant will be the leagues MVP and carried a heavy load. Westbrook missed time with a knee injury and veteran starters Thabo Sefolosha and Kendrick Perkins both were shelved late in the season with various ailments. "Guys had to step up and I think we did a good job of fighting through it all," Durant said. "That shows the type of organization, the type of coaching staff and team that we have. Its been a fun season and up and down like any other season." Memphis overcame a hideous start to make the postseason once again. Injuries hit the Grizzlies hard as well. They were without All-Defensive guard Tony Allen for a long stretch, but the main setback occurred when they lost All- Star center Marc Gasol with a left knee problem. Once the reigning Defensive Player of the Year returned to the lineup, the Grizzlies clicked. The Grizzlies went 33-13 in games Gasol played after the injury. The heart of the Grizz rests in their big-man combo of Gasol, who averaged 14.6 ppg, 7.2 rpg and 1.88 blocks, and Zach Randolph, who continued to be a double-double machine. He posted marks of 17.4 points and 10.1 rebounds while tying for the fourth-most double-doubles in the league. However, the real star that emerged this season was point guard Mike Conley. He averaged 17.2 ppg and 6.0 apg all the while playing stellar defense, the hallmark of the Grizzlies. It all finally came together for Memphis over the final two games of the season. The Grizzlies road victory over the Phoenix Suns in the penultimate game earned them a playoff berth. Their win over the Dallas Mavericks in the finale got them the seventh seed. "Getting 50 wins is something you want on your resume as a player, and people remember those. Those are special seasons. Its a standard, a golden standard I think," Grizzlies head coach Dave Joerger said. It will be a classic offense versus defense matchup. The Thunder were the fifth-best offensive team this season, while the Grizzlies ranked third in opponents scoring. Flip the script and the advantage swings to Oklahoma City. The Thunder finished a respectable 12th in defensive scoring and an impressive third in opponents field-goal percentage. Memphis ranked 27th in scoring The Thunder won three of four regular-season meetings against the Grizzlies. OKC is 7-4 all-time versus Memphis in regular-season games in Oklahoma City. Fran Tarkenton Vikings Jersey . Mike Trout, Josh Hamilton and Kole Calhoun all homered to help the Los Angeles Angels get their first win of the season with an 11-1 rout of the Houston Astros. Irv Smith Jr. Youth Jersey .C. - Goodyear has warned teams that increased speeds at Charlotte Motor Speedway will put a heavy emphasis on the right front tires in Saturday nights race a€” a potentially key development for drivers trying to advance in the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship. http://www.thevikingsshoponline.com/Youth-Adam-Thielen-Vikings-Jersey/ . American Lindsey Jacobellis was third, while Japans Yuka Fujimori finished just off the podium. Maltais, from Petite-Riviere-St-Francois, Que., earned bronze at the 2006 Olympic Games and is set to return to the Games this February in Sochi, Russia. Brett Favre Womens Jersey . Al Harrington, another former Knicks forward, scored 22 of his 24 points after halftime for the Nuggets, allowing them to withstand Anthonys attempt to rally the Knicks after his poor shooting had them behind until the final minutes of regulation. Anthony finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds, missing 20 of 30 shots in the Knicks sixth straight loss. Brett Favre Vikings Jersey . As for regular Olympic spectators, theyre being warned that most travel insurance policies wont cover acts of terrorism or war. The Games in southern Russia, which run from Feb. 7-23, are being staged amid unprecedented security and under global warnings of danger.Jamaica, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Sporting their first Top-25 ranking since 2001, the now 24th-ranked St. Johns Red Storm begin a four-game homestand starting with Wednesday evenings clash with the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights. Steve Lavins Red Storm have already enjoyed a great deal of home cooking, playing six of their first seven games as the home team. St. Johns has won six of its first seven games and enters this contest off a 69-57 road win at Syracuse last weekend. The teams lone loss on the season was a 73-66 setback to Top-10 foe Gonzaga as part of the NIT Season Tip-Off. Greg Herendas second season at FDU hasnt exactly gotten off to a fast start. The Knights are sitting one game under .500 at 3-4 and have dropped three of their four road contests to date. Overall, the team has lost four of its last five games and enters this game off a 75-57 loss at Notre Dame on Saturday. St. Johns has won all 11 previous meetings with FDU. The last meeting took place in 2007, a 92-67 rout at Carnesecca Arena. The Knights did some nice things in their loss to Notre Dame, but could not overcome a 10-point deficit at the half and ultimately fell by 18 to the Irish on their home floor. FDU was able to hold Notre Dame to its second-lowest scoring output of the season. Senior Mustafaa Jones led the way for Fairleigh Dickinson with 16 points. Freshman Marques Townes added 11 points in 20 minutes of work off the bench, while junior Xavier Harris (6 pts), grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds. Offensive proficiency has not been a strength for FDU this season, as the team enters this game averaging a modest 65.4 ppg on just .dddddddddddd408 shooting. In addition, the Knights are in the negative in terms of rebounding (-5.9) and turnover (-1.8) margins. Three of the five starters are averaging double figures in the scoring column, starting with Mustafaas 15.6 ppg. Matt MacDonald and Darian Anderson arent far behind at 13.9 and 10.1 ppg, respectively. Unfortunately, the scoring pool dries up fast after that, as Harris ranks fourth on the team in scoring at just 6.9 ppg. The Red Storm rely heavily on the starting five this season. The team is averaging a modest 73.1 ppg, but is allowing just 62.9, while holding a +4.6 rebounding edge and averaging 7.0 blocks per game. DAngelo Harrison may only shoot .387 from the floor, but he has team-highs of 16 3-pointers and 41 made free-throws to tally a team-best 18.4 ppg. Rysheed Jordan pours in 15.3 ppg, followed by Phil Greene IV (11.7 ppg) and SirDominic Pointer (10.4 ppg). Big man Chris Obekpa isnt much of a scorer (6.7 ppg), but he is a monster inside, averaging 9.6 rebounds and 3.9 blocks per game. The Red Storm used a 17-2 run late in the game to power past Syracuse at the Carrier Dome last weekend and earn an impressive 12-point road win. Greene was instrumental in the victory, scoring 11 straight points during the run. Greene finished with 18 points, but was outdone at the offensive end by Harrison, who led all scorers with 24 points. Harrison was 6-of-12 from the floor, with four 3-pointers, while going a perfect 8-of-8 from the free-throw line. Obekpa had just five points in the win, but did grab a game-high 16 rebounds and blocked four shots. ' ' '