THUNDER -at- LAKERS - 4/10 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Five Straight, Enough Already... The Lakers end-of-season tailspin continued against the Oklahoma City Thunder, losing their fifth straight game 120-106.

The score was much closer than this one indicates, pretty much back and forth all second half until a couple minutes to go. The Lakers had a 104-103 lead with 3 minutes left, but they turned the ball over on several straight possession to seal their fate.

They had 9 turnovers in the fourth quarter, making up for time since they had just 1 turnover in the first three quarters. Despite that, neither team looked particularly effective defensively.

The Lakers were more engaged in this game than they have been. That doesn't mean they didn't make a ton of mental mistakes on both ends, but the effort was improved.

"We played better. We played a lot better tonight," Phil said after mulling over those turnovers.

You wouldn't have known it with the finish or after giving up 25 points in the first 6 minutes, but Phil is right.

"Once we got our teeth kicked in, we kind of responded," Bynum said.

Leave it to the Thunder to help wake the Lakers from their collective snooze fest. They helped the Lakers snap out of their funk in the first round last year. Perhaps, they will help again with this one. Although, the game didn't go the Lakers way, the Lakers at least showed a pulse.

"I told them yesterday, I didn't think we'd be able to turn it around in one game," Phil said.

The Lakers are now tied with the Mavs and the Thunder are just a game out. Phil said he is starting to feel the pressure of the seeding now.


Kobe -- -- Kobe seemed to have an easier time scoring against the Thunder than he has in the past, hitting at a point-a-minute pace. He got to the rim and the line consistently throughout the game. Down the stretch he coughed up the ball three times (Pau had one, too). Just not the execution you want to see when they need to be efficient. It happens. Too bad, since they played a clean game on that end through the first three quarters. One thing you won't see in the playoffs is Kobe running just 31 minutes. Cut Shannon's run by about 10 minutes. Hopefully, the reduced minutes (5 less per game than last year). He picked up a double tech when he and Perkins got tangled up after a deadball. No more to spare. The Stats: He scored 31 points on 10-19 shooting (2-4 from three, 9-10 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 4 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 4 turnovers and 3 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a -12. The Action: He missed a wing pull-up jumper. He sank an open wing three. He attacked off a screen and drew FTs at the rim, he made both. He drew FTs pulling up for a jumper, he made both. He fouled Westbrook on a three, uggh. He lost the handle trying to pull-up in the lane (similar to his recent game-ending turnover). He missed a three in transition. He attacked for a layup on the break next time down. He missed a leaner. He picked Durant's pocket from behind in the backcourt, attacked baseline and threw down an And-1 dunk on him, he missed the FT. He had 11 points on 3-6 shooting in the first quarter. He got backscreened while ball-watching and gave up a three to Cook. He hit Pau on the pick and pop for a score. He hit a three after picking up a double-tech with Perkins. He cut off the Pau post, took the pass and scored the layup. He jab-stepped and swished the wing jumper on iso. He attacked, stepped through and hit Pau for the open jumper. He stepped through and hit the leaning one-hander. Easy layup in the post around Thabo. He had 22 points on 8-11 shooting and 3 assists. Westbrook had 18 points on 5-11 shooting. Second Half: He stripped Durant on help D, but missed a pull-up jumper from 18 in transition. He was fouled on a drive with no call and missed a layup. Looked like his next one was pinned on the glass, but the refs said it was blocked. He looked fouled on a tough baseline fallaway. He made a tech. He missed a leaner in the lane. He got Harden into the air on a three and drew contact, he made all three FTs. He found a seam in the paint and scored a layup. He iso'd on Westbrook and hit Bynum with a jump pass for a layup. He blew past Harden, got into the body of Perkins, stretched out and flipped in the And-1 off the glass, he made the FT. He threw a perimeter pass away, lazy ball with 3 minutes left. He airballed a three, then fouled Westbrook to give up an And-1 three on the other end. He fumbled another ball away.

Gasol -- -- Pau was aggressive offensively. A lot of quick attacks off the touch instead of letting the D get set. Mix in his usual post scores and some easy jumpers off the pick and pop and he had a very well-rounded game on that end. Still, you would have liked to see the team go in the post more than they did in the second half. Poor help D by Pau on a couple of drives by Durant early on. He drew a charge on Westbrook later in the game and will, perhaps, have to do that a little more if he doesn't want to challenge shots. There was a lot of confusion at times on some of the rotations, but without Bynum there we are not putting up any kind of roadblock lately. The Stats: He scored 26 points on 10-16 shooting (6-6 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 3 fouls. He was a -10. The Action: He swished an 18-footer off the Kobe pass. He attacked down the lane with speed to get hacked by Perkins, he made both. He missed a face-up jumper. Easy lefty jumphook in the low post out of a timeout. Another touch next trip down, easy score at the front of the rim. He scored an And-1 layup off the Bynum bounce pass, he made the FT. He had 11 points on 4-5 shooting in the first quarter. He hit the short pull-up jumper off the pick and pop. He hit Kobe cutting with a bounce pass for a layup. He drained the open baseline jumper off the Kobe kickout. He swung though on Ibaka and banked in a wing jumper (Tim Duncan-like play), he made the FT. He had 18 points on 7-9 shooting. Second Half: He missed a wing jumper. Massive slam over a couple defenders after cutting off the Artest post and taking the feed. He faced up, attacked left aggressively and drew FTs, he made both. He attacked across the lane and missed a lefty hook. He drew a charge on Westbrook's drive. Quick attack off the elbow pinch post and he scored a layup down the middle of the lane. He missed a corner jumper off the kickout. He was hit on a strip and lost the ball. He slammed with a few seconds left.

Bynum -- -- With as many shots and freethrows as the Thunder made, there weren't a lot of boards up for grabs. Drew still got the double-double. Offensively, there were some good screen-roll sequences involving Bynum. I would have liked to see the Lakers play a little over the top of the D with some lobs (Drew messed up the timing on the one he had). Down in the paint, Bynum got blocked as many times as he blocked shots. "I have to do a little bit better with my touches in the post," Bynum said. It all starts with low position for him. If he gets that, it's trouble (teammates need to recognize that anytime he gets it). He had some nice power ups that the Thunder couldn't handle. But when the help D had time, they would collapse on him. Drew made a couple nice passes out of that, but that's when he'd get the shots blocked, too. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 4-9 shooting (4-6 from the line) to go with 13 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks and 2 fouls in 39 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: He bricked a turnaround on the first attempt of the game (a little rushed after waiting for the post entry). No challenge on a made Perkins 10-footer (just close out and that threat is over). Nice interior bounce pass to Pau for the And-1. He drew FTs fighting for good position against Nazr, he made one. He drew FTs on the break when Lamar found him ready to throw down, he made both. He was blocked from behind trying to power up. He drew FTs on the screen-roll with Lamar, he made one. He scored a lefty jumphook on the low block. He slammed when Luke found him open under the hoop. He blocked Westbrook's jumper on the Westbrook/Perkins high screen. On the other end, he got the ball in low position on Ibaka then just powered right through him and slammed with both hands. He chucked a ball off Perkins to draw a tech. He had 10 points on 3-5 shooting and 5 boards. Second Half: He missed a tough jumphook. He blocked Durant's drive. He grabbed a Kobe miss and reset the offense (it led to a Fisher score). He drew the D and found Barnes cutting for FTs. He was called for three seconds on pass in the lane. He mis-timed a lob from Blake that he should have thrown down. He wanted a foul on an airball of a jumphook. He scored a layup off the jump pass from Kobe (more of that, please).

Artest -- -- His D was stronger in the second half than the first. The Lakers team D sequences on Durant were pretty poor. In previous games, Ron made a lot of trouble for KD, but he also had better help off some of those screen sequences and drives. He took a series of fouls in the final seconds to foul out and give up some free points. Offensively, he scratched out a few points getting into the paint for layups, fades or putbacks. He had a couple nice plays out of the post, including a bounce pass to a cutting Pau for a dunk. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-10 shooting (0-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals and 6 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a -3. The Action: He missed a wing jumper. He got an offensive board, reset the offense, took it back in the post and scored the layup. He missed a step-back fade from the elbow. He probed across the lane and hit a fallaway. He missed a long wing jumper, standing on the three line. Durant had 15 points on 6-9 shooting in the first half. Second Half: Out of a timeout, he posted up and scored a layup. He posted up and bounced to Pau cutting for the monster slam. He was way short on a sideline three. He stripped Durant on his swing through and drew FTs rumbling out on the break, he made both. He sealed a man and put back in an offensive board off the Shannon miss. He missed a baseline fade. He airballed a long three.

Fisher -- -- DFish hit the floor multiple times in this game hustling after loose balls. Scrappy game from him in that regard. The Lakers went to their usual cross-match, giving Fish the easier defensive assignments and Kobe put on Westbrook. Fish had 3 steals, should have been 4. There was a key sequence in the second half where Westbrook fumbled the ball away right to Fish and Fisher was whistled for the foul. On the other end, Fish was fouled on a jumper and didn't get a call. The Thunder were able to build back up another lead that the Lakers had to dig in and track down off that. DFish was in Kobe's ear after he picked up that tech, probably talking to him about not getting suckered into those double techs. Offensively, Fish needed to show a little more patience at times and not be so quick to pull the trigger on long jumpers. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-8 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 1 board, 4 assists, 3 steals, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He was wide left on a corner three, airball, dunk the other way. He attacked off the pinch post and scored a layup. He bricked a wing jumper in early offense. He dove to the floor for a loose ball on D and recovered it to get a stop. Second Half: He missed a long step-back jumper and the Thunder scored off it in early offense (Phil called a timeout). He sank a corner three in transition. He poked a post entry pass away. He attacked off the three line and pulled up in control in the lane to sink the 8-footer. Westbrook fumbled a ball right to him and Fish was called for a foul, horrible call. He was hit on a sideline jumper with no call on the other end. He was blocked on a drive. He hit the floor twice (once throwing the ball away, the next time calling timeout) on one defensive sequence.

Lamar -- -- Lamar said they gave up too much penetration. When the Lakers D was clicking a couple weeks ago, guys were doing the little things. We saw Lamar taking charges consistently. We haven't seen that from him since. That's one thing he needs to pick back up to help that penetration. There's always a tendency for Lamar to walk the ball up and get the Lakers into the offense too slowly against the Thunder. They Lakers did a pretty good job of that tonight. He had some good moments on drawing the D and finding open men. He needs to be careful on some of those long jumpers where he doesn't move the ball. When the second unit goes flat, we need to find ways to manufacture shots or get in the paint. Instead, we too often see Lamar and others settling for long jumpers. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-9 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 3 boards, 3 assists, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers and no fouls in 24 minutes. The Action: He hit Bynum on the break for FTs. He swished a quick catch-and-shoot wing three. He hit Drew off the screen-roll for FTs. He missed a flat 18-footer. He missed a leaning bank on the next trip down. He posted up and kicked out to Blake for a three. He was blocked out of bounds trying to create on a drive. Second Half: He tied up Harden on a drive to get a jumpball call. He kicked out to Blake for a three. He got tapped on a baseline fade off an offensive rebound. He scored when Shannon attacked and dumped it to him (lucky not to get a three second call). He missed a long jumper not running the offense. He backed Collison down and banked the jumphook easily. He missed a three.

Blake -- -- The Lakers wasted a good game from Blake. He sank all three of his attempts behind the arc (a couple with the shotclock low). When he's going like this, Phil ought to let him finish the game out. He was a threat that would have spaced the floor better down the stretch. Hopefully...hopefully...this game gives Blake a little bit of confidence heading into the next couple games and playoffs. He wasn't hesitating on any of his attempts. Got to string some games together. The Lakers should run a lot more screen-roll, two-man sequences with the ball in his hand to help manufacture some things for the second unit when they are struggling. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-3 shooting from three to go with 1 board, 2 assists, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 18 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He hit Bynum down low for the easy post score. He drained a wing three, just beating the shotclock off the Lamar kickout. Second Half: No hesitation on a Lamar kickout and he drilled the wing three. He drained another wing three off the Shannon kickout with the shotclock low.

Barnes -- -- He missed some easy ones tonight (a couple in the paint and two FTs that the second unit needed early in the fourth). They had a chance to build a slight lead and keep it in the fourth and those couple of missed FTs came at the wrong time. Phil ran Barnes at some back up SG tonight in place of some of Shannon's minutes. This is something that seemed like it was a while coming. I hope we see more of it. Barnes isn't prone to chucking. If a shot isn't there and he can't attack, he moves the ball. Hopefully, we see some more of that. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 0-3 shooting (2-4 from the line) to go with 3 boards (2 offensive) and 3 fouls in 14 minutes. He was a -11. The Action: He attacked off the three line at the end of the quarter, took contact on Durant and drew FTs with 2.9 left, he made both. He missed a short one in the lane. Way short on a floater in the lane. Straight-line penetration to Maynard and Barnes had to foul to save a dunk on the pass. Second Half: Nice challenge on Harden's three to force a miss. Smart cut to help Drew when the D swarmed and he earned FTs on the pass, he missed both. He fouled Harden on the other end on a jumper.

Brown -- -- There was a point in this game when Shannon started to dance with the ball to create and Staples wasn't happy with the ball stopping. You could hear it from the crowd. In the first half, he got benched for some horrible D. He let Harden score at will on a number of plays. Harden had 16 points on 3-9 shooting and 9-10 from the line. Kobe helped contribute a little to that, too, with some poor D. Phil actually sat Shannon for Luke because of this. His minutes in the playoffs will be reduced considerably when Kobe's time goes up. Who knows if Barnes may ending up taking even more of them? The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-4 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 15 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He got tapped on a good look from the wing. He gave up a three and then fouled a three-shooter on two straight possessions to start the second quarter. He got backdoored on the next trip down for a dunk. Harden drew FTs on Bynum on a straight line drive. He then got benched for Luke. Second Half: The crowd started to groan as he tried to iso and create off the dribble, he stopped, gave it up, worked out of the offense and scored a layup off the attack when he got it back. He missed a sideline three working out of the offense. He bumped Harden on the perimeter to give up FTs. He attacked the middle and kicked to Blake for a three. He attacked off the corner screen sequence and hit Lamar for the layup. Horrible outlet to Barnes leaking out (it hit the backboard). He fumbled a pass away in the paint. Horrible chuck from three, fading with 9 on the shotclock.

Walton -- -- Good, brief stint for Luke in place of Shannon in the first half, sliding Barnes to SG. He only played a couple of minutes, but didn't manage to shoot three or four times. Instead, he found Bynum for a dunk. We'll take it. The Stats: He had 1 assist in 2 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: He spotted Bynum free under the hoop, looked away and zipped the no-looker to him for a dunk. Second Half: He did not play in the second half.

Phil -- -- The Lakers trailed 21-11 after 5 minutes. After giving up 25 points (10 for Westbrook, 9 for Durant) halfway through the quarter, Phil called a timeout... Down 8, Phil brought in Lamar for Bynum... It was 6 points when Phil sat Fisher for Blake and Kobe for Shannon... The Lakers trailed 36-31 after the first... Phil started a Bynum, Lamar, Barnes, Brown, Blake lineup... Phil sat Shannon for Luke after just a couple minutes because Shannon was giving up score after score to Harden. Phil lectured him on the sideline. Barnes now the SG... The Lakers were down 10 when Phil went with Pau and Kobe for Luke and Bynum... He sat Lamar for Bynum and Artest for Barnes to get the starters back in with 5:37 left down 12... After Kobe and Perkins shoved each other, picking up double techs, the Lakers went on a 7-0 run to cut it to 56-51. They would trim it down further as their intensity picked up... The Lakers trailed 66-64 at the half. The Lakers shot 56 percent (23-41, 4-6 from three, 14-17 from the line). The Thunder shot 62 percent (23-37, 6-9 from three, 14-15 from the line). The Lakers had just 1 turnover. The fastbreak points were about even (6-4 in favor of the Thunder)... The coaches wanted better control of their fouls on D... The Lakers took their first lead 6 minutes into the third... A series of calls went against the Lakers and they quickly trailed by 6 again. Phil sat Pau for Lamar... Down 3, he sat Bynum for Pau, Kobe for Shannon and Fisher for Blake with 3 minutes left... They took a 4-point lead on a 10-0 run... The Lakers led 90-88 heading into the fourth... Phil started a Bynum, Lamar, Barnes, Brown, Blake unit... Some missed FTs, a missed but easy lob, too many turnovers and the 5-point lead they had was gone, and they trailed by 1 when the timeout came. All the starters returned for the final 5-plus minutes... Down 2 with 2 minutes left and Phil sat Bynum for Lamar. That sealed the deal when we failed to execute on the other end... Three straight turnovers in three possessions and they trailed by 6.... Phil highlighted the Lakers fouling three three-shooters in this game and some of the techs as one of the problems defensively... The Thunder shot 55.6 percent, the Lakers 47 percent...

[sgtpepper1972]

First!

But now we have to win the last two games of the regular season...just to make sure we clinch the second seed in the West!

[E=MC²]

Pau just guaranteed the wins in next two games, lets see what happens.

[ctb619]

[E=MC²]

[Triple-Threat-Lakers]

Just like people must donate to charity?

[The_Joker]

I hope Drew develops some kind of bank shot. Perkins is too strong for him to muscle through, so you have to attack him facing up. I think he's long enough to shoot this shot, without being affected by the defender.

Don't listen to those who say he doesn't need a jumper. The jumper made Dwight more dangerous, so why would it make him less? A jumper will open up a lot more options for him and the team. All that matters is whether he's efficient enough with it.

IMO, a jumper is what will clearly separate him from Pau, and quite possibly reaching Dwight's level.

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[revgen]

[revgen]

What I saw tonight was Westbrook and Durant hitting contested mid-range shots off P&R's. If the Thunder are hitting long contested 2's, then I don't know how you can stop them.
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[mhan00]

[Cutheon]

Looking at the game again and the game stats...no way Thunder beat us in a 7 game series. We were in the game towards the end with a lot going the Thunders way and a lot of uncharacteristic turnovers (uncharacteristic in the playoffs at least) finishing us off.

We fouled 3 people beyond the arc. Westbrook was 3-5 from beyond (he won't shoot that well again). He was hitting his J....he pretty much never does that. durant finally, FINALLY, had a great game against Artest. Artest can legitimately shut him down usually or at the least bother him immensely -- I expect Artest to shine in a series against Durant. They hit a lot of contested J's (as revgen stated above), got some lucky bounces and calls. I don't expect this to happen 4 times during a series.

The Spurs, Blazers, other teams...they can't handle us 4 times in a series. With the Lakers fully focused and locked in they are not going to get lucky 4 times. The Spurs saw what a focused Laker team did... we walked into their house and completely shat on them and their franchise record home win streak.

I do not fear a single team in the West and it is clear the Lakers don't either. In the East, we can handle Boston and I don't see the Heat getting past Boston and the Bulls. I feel the Bulls are simply too inexperienced and too reliant on Rose offensively to beat us 4 times out of 7.

No fear this upcoming playoffs. I just want this (bleep) season to end.

[E=MC²]

[Cutheon]

^ And that, unfortunately, is always the great equalizer and the one thing you can't game plan for (ask Boston, lol). To health

[A Mad Chinaman]

DB hit it on the head, Shannon (unfortunately) is making numerous mental mistakes while thinking he is the Black Mamba that can create on his own (he can't). When "Brick House" Luke is doing better than Shannon, your game has truly deteriorated.

Unusually to see Kobe make some "interesting" decisions down the stretch that continued from the last game where he mysteriously lost the handle on the game's last critical play without any unusual defensive pressure.

Interesting that the Lakers (along with the Celtics) have hit hard patches just prior to the start of the playoffs. Again, the "bad losses (Utah, Golden State) has made it unnecessarily harder to get the 2 spot in the playoffs.

With the Spurs playing for the best record and the Kings playing the last game at Arco Center, the games will be intense.

[mandywwm]

damn, we cannot even stay at 2rd seed, so sad!!

[prisma8slg]

thanks DB. felt like I was in the twilight zone the last few minutes of the game.
_________________
"I define success by championships, by winning..." Kobe Bryant

"I've seen it all. Sasha dunked on somebody," Kobe Bryant said. "I'm ready to retire now."

[keale18]

[Klone_dd]

It's hard to win when you allow a team to shoot 56% plus 35 FTs. One or the other and you might have a chance. 9 TO's in the 4th were also a major factor.

I was happy that Kobe looked very spry and energized. He got to the rim pretty easily However, his TOs seem like he's mishandling the ball quite a bit. Lingering finger problems?

Memo to Shannon: If Phil substitutes Luke for you, it means you're playing like crap. Be a catch and shoot guy, not a playmaker, and no, playmaking for yourself isn't playmaking. You're subbing for Kobe's spot, not assuming Kobe's role.

Sunday (or Saturday) can't come soon enough.