LAKERS -at- THUNDER - 2/27 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Locking Down... In the four games after the All Star break, the Lakers have held teams to 87, 95, 87 and 80 points in regulation. Blocking shots, taking charges, hustling on rotations -- these are the signs that their defense is starting to get serious again.

At some point in each game, the Lakers have tightened the screws and imposed their will on that end of the floor. They did so again tonight in the second half of the 90-87 victory over the Thunder.

Against Oklahoma City, the D starts with Ron Artest and Kobe Bryant on the Thunder's dynamic duo, but it really comes down to support by the men in the middle as the Thunder work off screens on every play. Andrew Bynum controlled the paint all night and his counterpart, Pau Gasol, came up with a key charge call in the final minute.

Phil even said afterward, he "reluctantly" subbed out Drew for Pau in the fourth quarter.

The game had a playoff atmosphere and the Lakers stepped up and met the challenge. Asked if there was something different with the team since the All Star break, Kobe didn't think so. “Nothing changed," Kobe said. "We just got better in our system. It’s as simple as that.”

It seems clear, however, that the difference between a loss to the Cavs and a win against the Thunder is more than just getting better in a system. It's about meeting the intensity and energy of an opponent bent on making a statement against the defending champs. Tough to do sometimes when you're trying to three-peat.

"I thought we played as hard as we could possibly play and they did the same," Scott Brooks said. "It was as intense as a regular season game can be.”


Kobe -- -- Disrespected by the refs or too much credit given to the Thunder defenders? Either way when the game was on the line, he had to fight through some tough no calls. "You just got to shoot through fouls," Kobe said. In the final minute, he was both body-checked at the rim and then hit on the elbow on a jumper (which he made). Both fouls were replayed and it was hard for the announcing crew to not comment on it. Thankfully, the Lakers withstood that. Kobe picked up a tech in the game as this was a recurring theme. Another recurring theme is no freethrows on the road once again for Kobe. Disturbing. So, take the shooting numbers with a grain of salt. There should have been a few less field goal attempts and a few more freethrow attempts. He wasn't getting a consistent number of quality looks, however. The team as a whole suffered from this with some of their slowness in setting up the offense. Kobe did do a good job working the two-man game, drawing doubles and finding teammates. They should have worked that a little more down the stretch. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 8-22 shooting (1-6 from three) to go with 2 boards, 7 assists, 1 steal, 4 turnovers and 3 fouls in 37 minutes. He was a +1. The Action: He missed a three from the wing on the Lakers first shot. He missed a step-back fade. He traveled on the next possession. He airballed a corner jumper. He sank a turnaround from the baseline over Westbrook for his first score. He lost the ball in the paint for a layup the other way. He set up Pau in transition on the counterstrike after that play. He swished a pull-up elbow jumper next time down. He set up Drew for FTs on the screen-roll. He missed a sideline three. He hit a sideline jumper when Drew saved a ball inbounds to him. He set up Pau for FTs on the break. He picked up a tech away from the ball (barely said anything to Javie, but was tagged). Second Half: He missed a wing three on his first attempt of the half. He blew past his man and scored a layup around a help defender. He didn't box out and gave up an offensive board to Westbrook. He had to force up a three and missed. He hit Bynum on the screen-roll for the layup. He swished a fallaway from the elbow. He drew a charge on Westbrook, getting creamed. He missed a floater. He was stripped on a post up in the paint. He stripped Durant from behind, then hit Shannon for the dunk. He stalled the offense, then missed a sideline chuck. Good challenge on Durant to get a miss. He airballed a turnaround and was wondering where the foul call was (hit on the arm). He missed another jumper and had some words with the ref. He attacked to his left and banked the short pull-up. Huge three with 4:36 left to give the Lakers a 7-point lead. He was called for a charge in the post (flop). He missed a tough, fading sideline jumper with the shotclock low. He got tapped on a sideline three on iso next time down. He was body-checked in mid air at the rim and went down hard, no call with 1 minute left (hard to believe, wow). He drained a step-back baseline jumper off our inbounds on that sequence, hit on the elbow in the process, wow. He missed a long jumper with 4 on the shotclock (again, the Lakers slow to get into their set).

Gasol -- -- The Thunder are looking to add size because they, like a lot of teams, have trouble with our bigs on the glass. Perkins wasn't available for this game, and the Lakers length continued to have their way. Pau, Lamar and Bynum all combined for all 9 Laker offensive boards. Somehow, I don't think Perkins will prevent those from happening. The Lakers still won the game tonight, despite losing the offensive boards 12-9. Pau has had a tendency to looked rushed against this team offensively. Green and Ibaka made him do that. He looked more comfortable out there today. Defensively, he wasn't the anchor Drew was but Pau does have a tendency to come up in crunch time. He did that again today by drawing a charge on Westbrook's drive. Well done. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 7-13 shooting (4-6 from the line) to go with 11 boards (5 offensive), 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 32 minutes. He was a -13. The Action: He swished a tough baseline turnaround against the shotclock on his first touch. He hit a pull-up jumper from 16 feet on his next touch (Lakers first two scores, trailing by 10). He set up Drew for FTs on an interior feed. He scored a layup on the counterstrike when Kobe hit him. He swished a baseline jumper on a kickout from Fish. He was fouled on a drive with no call and then swatted. He grabbed a missed floater on Blake's drive and scored. He got run into and cleared out with an elbow and was called for the foul, his second. He missed a wide open 12-footer. He missed an awkward one-hander in the lane. He drew FTs in transition when Kobe set him up, he made one. He was blocked at the rim and wanted the goaltend. He sealed his man in the paint to take the long outlet off the inbounds with 3.6 seconds left in the half and he scored a layup. He had 13 points and 6 boards at the half. Second Half: He slammed back in a missed layup by Ron. He was slapped on the wrist with no call for a dunk the other way (pretty obvious foul). No challenge on dribble penetration the moment he entered the game (Drew would have at least gone after it). He drew FTs when Lamar set him up off the high-low play, he made both. He missed a long face-up wing jumper with the shotclock low. He deflected Wesbtook's pass to get a stop. He was blocked on a layup, kept it alive and drew FTs on the hack on a follow attempt, he made one with 3 minutes left. He stepped in and took a charge on Westbrook with 17 seconds left to get the stop, easy call.

Bynum -- -- Heck of a job anchoring the paint. The real problem that most teams have, Thunder included, against the Lakers is scoring in the low post. None of that will change with Perkins when he gets there. You essentially saw what their offense will look like with him out there. Another donut opponent. Drew gets to roam the paint or jump out to challenge shooters off screens, if needed. The Lakers force the Thunder to shoot from the outside in the halfcourt or funnel to their bigs. When they can play tight and have someone cover their backs and erase shots, they can lockdown. Drew was essential at that. JVG said during the broadcast that he thought Bynum was a 17-11 player on a different team. He got 16-11 tonight in this one today. His offensive game has to get in line behind Kobe, Pau and even Lamar on most nights. If he doesn't get the ball, it's tough to score. The team did a good job setting him up off the screen-rolls. Drew's size also forced a lot of hacks and whistles. The only guy to get that tonight. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 5-7 shooting (6-8 from the line) to go with 10 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 5 blocks and 1 foul in 32 minutes. He was a +16. The Action: He missed a layup, got it back and scored easily. He was hacked next possession on the interior feed from Pau, he made one FT. Great jumpout to force Durant into an airball. He rejected a shot behind Pau on help D. He erased dribble penetration with another rejection at the rim. He was hammered on the screen-roll with Kobe, he made one FT. He was blocked on a dunk attempt (should have kept both hands on it). He dunked off the quick pass from Lamar. He swatted a pass on the screen-roll D to get a stop. His jumphook was goaltended off the glass on the other end. He pulled down a missed three by Ron and drew FTs powering up, he made both. Great hustle to save a bad pass back inbounds to Kobe who then hit a jumper. Second Half: He blocked Collison at the rim on one end, trailed the offense, took the pass, hung and drew more FTs, he made both. He scored a layup off the screen-roll with Fish. He scored off the screen-roll dive with Kobe. He swatted his man's jumpshot on iso D. Strong challenge on guard penetration and we got the miss.

Artest -- -- First play of the game, Ron ties up Durant. In the final minute of the game, he Thunder had a late timeout to set something up for Durant in a key possession. Their plans were quickly tossed aside when Ron stripped Durant. Possession over. He plays all 48 minutes on that end of the floor, but won't get a lot of respect from his critics unless he scores. "I've got to give 100% every night because I'm only getting older and he's only reaching his prime," Artest said. Durant's stats: 21 points (7.6 below his average) on 20 shots and 5 turnovers. Last game against the Lakers, it was 24 points on 24 shots. It seems the Thunder try more and more to shed Ron on screens to get Durant catch-and-shoot looks. That was the only thing that they got to really work. Anytime Durant was able to get daylight by shedding Artest off a screen, he seemed to hit shots in the first half. "There were hitting me with some illegal screens early," Artest said. "I was getting hit a lot. They did a good job getting him open but then later they weren't hitting me with those screens. I'm in good shape. I can get hit all day and run all day and play all day." They tried to make him a passer on occasion, as well. Nothing came easy for KD. The Lakers didn't entirely ignore Ron on the offensive end, either. There were several possessions (whether he got the ball or not), that Ron would muscle, lean and battle with Durant in the paint. That will help wear on him as the game goes on. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 5-10 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 2 steals, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 37 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He tied up Durant on the first defensive stand. He sank a step-back baseline jumper. He swiped the ball from behind a man under the hoop on help D. He missed a baseline jumper. He missed an open corner three on a kickout. He missed an open three from the top of the arc. He was stripped in the post (looked like a foul). He drained an elbow jumper after a play busted. He shed Durant in the post and scored a layup. Second Half: He gathered a long outlet, went to the corner and swished a jumper. He stepped in off the three line and drained a 22-footer. He curled weak to strong, took the pass and missed a layup (but Pau cleaned it up). His drive and dish was stolen. He slapped a ball away from Durant on iso. The offense stalled, he tried to create and was stripped for a bustout dunk. Out of a timeout, he stripped Durant on a set-up play to get a stop in the final minute.

Fisher -- -- Again, we cross-match to get Fish out of the crosshairs defensively. Against the Thunder, we could use any of our PG-SF players if they could run the offense, hit from the perimeter and rotate on D. Fish can usually do two of those three. The Lakers were a little perimeter heavy out of the gates between Fish and Kobe. Once the offense found their balance, they started to get into the flow. They are trying to set an aggressive tone, but it sure seemed to backfire until they mixed it up. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-8 shooting (0-3 from three) to go with 1 board, 3 assists, 2 turnovers and no fouls in 30 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: He drew a charge on Westbrook. He missed a corner three on the Lakers second possession. He missed a layup on a drive left. He faked the handoff to Kobe, attacked and kicked to Pau for the jumper. He sank a wing jumper as the shotclock buzzer went off. He scored a layup off an inbounds play under the hoop. He missed a tough three from the sideline. Second Half: He swished a baseline jumper off the split play. He missed a pull-up bank. Great feed to Bynum on the screen-roll (high and away from the defender) for a layup. He missed a three, the offense settling again.

Lamar -- -- He choked two FTs that should have iced the game. The team, instead, had to dodge two threes in the final stand. Lucky to avoid OT (Thunder lucky to have the chance because of those misfires). He had tried to give up the ball to Fish before the foul, but was late to do it. Fairly decent game from Lamar, despite some problems. He had an excellent second quarter stint to help guide the Lakers back from a 13-point hole. Nice seeing that strong push in the first half as he's been a little late to respond in recent games. They needed him to bring it then and he did. Even though he didn't have huge rebounding numbers, he was active on the glass on both ends. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-7 shooting (1-2 from three, 0-2 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls and 32 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: He telegraphed a bounce pass and it was picked off. He bricked on a one-handed bank attempt to start the second. He swished a baseline, face-up jumper. He drained a three straight away, just beating the shotclock. He grabbed a defensive board and quickly turned it up court to hit Shannon for a score. He swiped a pass next time down on a good rotation. He worked off the Bynum screen and scored a layup to his left (more please). He whipped a pass off the catch to Bynum for a dunk. He crashed the glass and saved a miss back in to DFish. He drew a charge on help D. He missed a three out of a timeout. He swiped a pass and ignited the break. Second Half: He missed a layup on a drive right. He drained an open catch-and-shoot elbow jumper. He hit Pau on the high-low for FTs. He set up in no-man's land in transition D and allowed Westbrook to get to the rim (got to wall him off instead of guarding no one). He was fouled in the backcourt up by 3 with 10 seconds left, he missed both, either could have iced the game.

Blake -- -- Makes a difference when he can drain some jumpers and spread the floor. He hit a couple from the corners in this game. Very good D on Westbrook again, particularly in the second half, when Blake kept him out of the paint or away from short jumpers. This can allow Kobe to step in and cover Durant while Artest rests. If Artest is in foul trouble, Kobe can slide over to SF and Blake can D-up Westbrook. If Kobe is in foul trouble while guarding Westbrook, Phil can bring in Blake and the Lakers will have a fighting chance. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-3 shooting (1-1 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist and 1 foul in 18 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: He attacked off the three line, missed the floater, but Pau cleaned up the dribble penetration. Second Half: He drained a quick-fire corner three on a two-for-one possession. He sank a quick-fire two from the other corner on the break.

Brown -- -- Perhaps, Shannon got the memo on the shameless chucking. Much more controlled game on the road in a tough arena. The Thunder would have loved long perimeter misses which they could exploit in transition. His only three in this game was must-chuck sideline bank job that he had to launch. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-6 shooting (1-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 steal and no fouls in 16 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He took the outlet from Lamar, dodged a reach and scored a layup. He got lucky to bank in a sideline three when he had to hoist a tough one up to beat the shotclock buzzer. Second Half: His layup was blocked (should have tried to cram it). He missed a layup on a curl off an inbounds. He missed a falling down prayer after taking contact with no call on a drive (he tried to dodge the contact instead of really seeking it out). He slammed on a bustout when either he or Kobe stripped Durant. He drew FTs on a drive to the rim, he made both. He stripped a ball off Durant's leg in the post. He stripped another off Cook to regain possession on the other end.

Walton -- -- The Lakers managed to get Ron a couple of rests. In the first half, Luke got him a 6-minute break without hurting the team. That coincided with Durant's only rest of the game. Kobe took on the back-up SF in the second half. Phil has said he's wanted to get Ebanks some more minutes, but the temptation of Luke is just too strong for him. The Stats: No stats in 6 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: Nothing to report. Second Half: He did not play in the second half.

Phil -- -- Perimeter-oriented start from the Lakers with Kobe and Fisher shooting blanks right and left. They trailed 12-2 quickly. (Only score was on Pau's lone touch.)... Once they started integrating the bigmen into the offense, they chipped back in the game. They were down 21-18 when Phil sat Pau for Lamar... Down 3 still, he brought in Pau for Drew and Brown/Blake for Kobe/Fish... The Lakers trailed 28-22 after the first... Phil started a Pau, Lamar, Luke, Brown, Blake unit. They quickly trailed by 13, forcing a timeout. Phil sat Pau for Bynum after 2 minutes... They cut it to 42-38 midway through the quarter to force a timeout. Phil brought in Artest, Kobe and Fish for Luke, Blake and Brown... They caught the Thunder at 42-42 a minute later... Bad close to the half and the Lakers coughed up a lead again... The Lakers trailed 56-51 at the half. Westbrook had 17 points on 7-10 shooting... The Lakers led 61-60 winning the first 5 minutes of the half... The Lakers started to get into their offense too late and settling for long jumpers with the shotclock low. Always a problem against the Thunder when they don't get into their offense early with how the Thunder overplay the lanes... Phil sat Kobe 69-69 with under 3 minutes left to go with a Bynum, Lamar, Artest, Brown, Blake unit. The Lakers held the Thunder to just 13 points in the third... The Lakers led 72-69 heading into the fourth quarter... Phil started a the same unit, but with Kobe instead of Artest on Durant... After 5 minutes, they had an 80-76 lead when Phil brought in Ron for Shannon and Pau for Bynum, who had been anchoring the D great... He yelled at LO for not walling off Westbrook in transition... Some poor offensive possessions down the stretch. But the Lakers held strong on the defensive end... The Lakers converted 19 Thunder turnovers into 22 points. Some good counterstrikes, but on 9 points on the break... The Lakers held the Thunder to just 31 points in the second half on 30 percent shooting...

[Sister Golden Hair]

Primero!

[DancingBarry]

To TA for the writeup on Friday's Clipper game. Great job.

[RVCdesigns]

Amazing game by Bynum and Artest. Thanks DB.

[mhan00]

really, really want to see blake get more time on westbrook our next game. he's done a great job on him in the limited minutes he's had against him so far this year, and i really want to see if he can do it over an extended period of time. in both games, when blake was covering him, westbrook couldn't even get close to the paint one on one, and with a screen blake did a great job containing him along with the big man. not enough time to know if it was a fluke, but blake has been pretty good at denying straight line penetration all year long, giving our bigs time to come to help (unless pau is feeling lazy, like he was in the second quarter today).

pau, good game overall, just a dismal, awful, terrible, horrible effort in the second quarter defensively. he didn't bother to step up to contest any of the shots of guards coming off the screen, and he missed several rotations in the paint to come help which cost us some james harden layups. much, much better job in the second half, particularly in the fourth, but that second quarter was BRUTAL.

'drew. tough and nasty. that is all.

ron. durant dreams of ron ron after every game against us, and he wakes up screaming because the crazy black shadow won't . . . let . . . him . . . get . . . away . . .

kobe had waaaaaay too much iso the last five minutes of the game. he got hosed on calls (as per usual these days on the road), but that was still some ugly ass offense. i don't know if it's because he wants to iso, or if his teammates just went passive, but we need more team action down the stretch.

great job by lamar today. those two missed fts were UGGGGGGGLLLLLYYYY though.

much better game from shannon. i didn't feel like choking him after he was on the floor for three minutes, so i knew that for once he wasn't jacking up every shot possible.

fisher had a pretty decent overall game. it really does look like he's worked on more in-between shots and his layups this year.

great, tough fought win today.

[thurloly]

Monster game by Bynum. Now, that is the beast I am talking about.

[Arbitrary]

Great game! Thanks DB!

Oh and, you kinda messed up Bynum's stats.

[sonn]

Luke didn't do anything wrong, a successful game for him.

[lakefan24]

Love how Bynum has become an important part of the team. Can't believe he use to be that skinny guy that would sit in the bench and not get that much playing time. Glad to see Bynum progress over the years. We have an unstoppable front line.

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB.

[E=MC²]

Thanks DB. Very good and very important win.

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks again DB! As always the best recaps in the business.

[Lakersneuron]

thanks DB! good win today. Lets hope they can keep this momentum going.

[A Mad Chinaman]

Great that Drew had that "Eye of the Tiger" attitude, along with RonRon.

Mychal and Spera made a comment on the radio that sometimes Pau gets frustrated when the ball doesn't come to him and stays on the perimeter when he has good position in the paint - hence, his effort sometimes lags. Of course, Pau has to demand and "show" that he is open since Kobe, DFish and LO definitely wants to get him the ball.

Earlier in the year, they were getting Pau the ball in the low post and having cutters for him to pass the ball. Anybody know why this isn't happening much now?

In the near future, can you image the defensive pressure that can be applied with a lineup of Kobe, RonRon, Matt Barnes, Eubanks and Drew! They can almost switch on everything.

[Klone_dd]

The team has put together a string of playoff-like games since the break now that they have the finish line in sight.

Frustrating to watch the non-calls stifling the Lakers attack, but as long as the refs allow them to play the tough D, it evens out. Then, we have Kobe who can make the tough shots to get us over the hump.

Great game by Bynum, controlling the paint. I thought Blake's 2 buckets were absolutely huge.

Seems like Kobe and Pau have adopted the old Shaq/Kobe routine of the big man being assertive in the 1st half and Kobe taking over in the 2nd. I'd prefer much more balance between the 2. Pau took 10 shots in the 1st half and 3 in the 2nd. Kobe, 7 in the 1st half and 15 in the 2nd.

[dcarter4kobe]

Great game for Drew..Impact will never show in box score

Ebanks really should be playing over Luke
_________________
"He's a Zen master, so he can speak to you, and he doesn't need a microphone; you can hear him in your head, 'Ron, don't shoot, don't shoot.' Whatever, pow, three. I love the Zen, though."

[Texas_Pete]

Thanks DB. I was proud of the champs. They played like...champions. The refs called ticky tack fouls on us and let them rough house Kobe (WT bleep? ) just to give them a chance. We valiantly fought from 14 down as the bench stepped in and closed the gap. Just think, in a few more games we get Matty B back in the fold. That means that if we meet with them we don't have to put Kobe on KD at all (even though he did a good job on him today) and save him to help Blake/Fish with Westbrook.

I would have liked to see more touches for Big Drew in this one. Their halfcourt defense will improve exponentially when Perkins is healthy. Gotta get him more touches and keep his confidence. Great anchorage by him. I would have loved to see more 4th qtr minutes from him today.

Nice game by Blake as well. He hit some shots that made me think of his Portland days. Good to see.

I can't wait for the Killer B reunion. That's when we can really begin to hit our stride IMO. Great road win by a focused championship team.

[Rick12322]

[Rick12322]

Thanks DB. You forgot to post Bynum's impressive +/- stat. I think it was a +16, way, way above everyone else.

[limchrc]

thanks

[8x3=]

great win..we need to learn to play the whole game the way we did the second..lamars FT's took me back to the shaq days of screaming at the TV cuz a millionaire athlete cant hit a free throw..wtf

[DancingBarry]

[DancingBarry]

[Tony Almeida]

Thanks DB. Good to have you back.

Once LO realized there was a game going on, he was balling in that second quarter, showing off the entire skill set. The commentators touched on it, but it's impressive to see the wide range of things Lamar can do on the court.

As far as the last two free throws, well, LO and Artest always have me concerned with pressure free throws. Gasol to a lesser extent as well (not as much this year).

Thought could be a good choice for Kobe's game tonight, at least on offense. One thing is for sure, you know he's going to keep coming at you. He was relentless, just couldn't get much of a rhythm. Refs played a part, but thought he could have been quicker with his moves and shot. Defensively thought he played kind of weak in the first half, much better in the second.

Artest was again terrorizing Durant on defense. Good stuff.

Bynum made his presence felt tonight. Good timing and strong defensive impact. Just what this team needs from the interior defense. As far as offense, his isos and post moves have looked weak the past couple of weeks. He is the recipient on those lobs and putbacks, but when he tries to iso from anywhere other than 2-3 feet out, the results have been lackluster.

[DancingBarry]