It was a privilege just to be at Game 4 of Grizzlies-Thunder series

The Grizzlies may or may not figure out a way to win Game 5 in Oklahoma City. They may or may not find a way to win this playoff series and advance to play Dallas in the Western Conference Finals.

But in a season of can-you-believe-this-moments, this may be the one that lingers longest in our memories. This night of drama and of history. This night when the game was as full and as wild and as brimming with peril and possibilities as the river that has been making some history of its own.

“This is what it’s all about,” said Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace, who was wandering around the Memphis locker room well after 1 a.m., shaking hands with his guys. “Except for getting the win, it doesn’t get any better than this. This is why you get a team.”

The Grizzlies hung in, and hung in, and hung in. Conley hit a ridiculous 3 to send the game into the first overtime. Then, when Conley fouled out, Greivis Vasquez hit an even more ridiculous 3 to send it into second overtime.

“When Greivis hit that shot, I just started laughing,” said Battier. “What else could you do? At that point, it went from the ridiculous to the sublime.”

In the third overtime, the Grizzlies finally fizzled. They made just 1 of 9 from the field. “It became a matter of just not having enough bullets,” said Grizzlies head coach Lionel Hollins. “Nobody wanted to go home.”

In the locker room, afterward, the players dressed in relative peace and quiet. Print reporters had long since blown past their deadlines and TV wouldn’t air fresh tape at 2 a.m.

Battier said he’d never been a part of anything remotely like this game. Wallace compared it to Game 5 of the 1976 championship series between the Celtics and the Suns.

“To be a part of something like this is special,” he said. “I know it doesn’t feel like that now.”