Thunder look cool (except for Westbrook who got hot) in easy win over Grizzlies

It was a perfect storm of bad for Memphis — they trade their leading scorer Rudy Gay, who is out shopping for a much more extensive winter wardrobe, but his replacements (Tayshaun Prince, Ed Davis and Austin Daye) have yet to arrive. Then you are on the road against a rested Oklahoma City team who has used its days off to work out some kinks.

The result is the Thunder opening the game 9-for-9 shooting getting a 10-point lead by the end of the first quarter and never looking back as Oklahoma City cruises to a 106-89 over Memphis . This game wasn’t really that interesting to watch and the Thunder came off looking cool.

Well, except for Russell Westbrook, who got a little bit hot in the third quarter.

Westbrook got called for a five-second violation while trying to back-down the smaller Jerryd Bayless. Thabo Sefalosha had cut through the lane during the time and Westbrook had words with him afterwards. We should note, the Thunder were up 15 at the time.

Westbrook went to the bench where Mo Cheeks tried to calm him, then Westbrook stormed into the tunnel. He eventually returned to the bench with a towel over his head. Coach Scott Brooks kept him on the bench the rest of the third quarter.

Of course, after the game Westbrook played it off as nothing.

In the time he sat, Memphis made its one push. Early in the third the Thunder had their lead up to 25 but Memphis went on 27-14 run. Near end of the third quarter Memphis got the lead down to 10 and it was a 12-point game to start the fourth.

That’s when Westbrook returned. Memphis’ coach Lionel Hollins was shorthanded and needed to get his wing players some rest so he went big to start the fourth — Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol and Darrell Arthur all on the court at once — and athleticism of Thunder quickly got some transition baskets and stretched lead out to 17. From there the rout was back on.

Kevin Durant had 27 points, Russell Westbrook 21 and Kevin Martin 16 for a Thunder team that shot 55.6 percent on the night.

Memphis’ Randolph had a really rough night — he shot 0-for-9 for the first half and was 4-of-17 total in the game, although he did grab 19 boards. Marc Gasol had a good night with 16 points and 7 rebounds, while Bayless added 23 points. But as a team the Grizzlies shot just 34.7 percent.

We’re going to see how Memphis’ already struggling offense — they were 23rd in the NBA in points scored per possession with Gay — works with its new players. But this was not the night, and if you’re going to have an off night against a rested Thunder team on the road is going to be a rough place for it.