THUNDER -at- LAKERS - 3-4-24 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Defensive Focus... The Lakers match up well with the young Thunder, but they really dialed in their defense tonight to bounce back from the Denver loss.

The Lakers fell back 13-2 to start as their offense sputtered out of the gates and was turnover-prone in the first quarter. Austin Reaves helped the Lakers rally with a couple of threes while setting up a couple more for others as part of a 14-2 run. The defense tightened up and forced the Thunder to shoot 1-11 to close the quarter, and both teams were tied 25-25.

The Thunder continued their poor shooting as the Laker D put the clamps on, going just 2-21 into the second quarter.

The Lakers offense sputtered again and OKC trimmed the lead down, but the relentless Laker D turned defense into offense and multiple scores on the break. The Lakers took a 52-43 lead into the half. The Thunder shot just 31% in the first half.

The Thunder quickly trimmed the lead to just 2 points early in the second half, but the Lakers stormed back with a 12-0 run to keep them in check and extend the lead to 17.

To open the fourth quarter, Russell and Prince drilled a series of threes to stretch the lead to 24 and this game was quickly out of reach for the Thunder.

Excellent defense tonight, especially by the Laker guards.

“I think we did a good job keeping bodies in front of bodies tonight,” Bron said of the defensive end.

The Lakers took the 116-104 win over the Thunder.


LeBron -- -- Some good defense on the back line tonight. Early on he was grabbing boards. On one play, he broke up a lob, then tapped out the defensive board. Nearly a triple-double tonight, but we kept his minute to 31 as the Lakers won that early part of the fourth. Offensively, some nice lob passes to his bigs and he also found them in transition, as well. He had a nice transition layup, muscling through a man like he does. On another sequence on the break, he gave up the ball to Russell, who touch passed it back to him and Bron scored the And-1. Just one three tonight, on an early offense handoff from AD. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 7-13 shooting (1-3 from three, 4-5 from the line) to go with 11 boards, 8 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 31 minutes. He was a +14.

Davis -- -- He was a beast around the rim, getting offensive boards or drawing fouls. He has just too much size and speed for the Thunder. When he has the activity switched to high gear, the Thunder just don’t have an answer. Some sloppy post passing by the Lakers early on in this game. But he just imposed himself as the game went along. When he got downhill, both Bron and AD found him for lobs. Defensively, he had some excellent sequences smothering Holmgren. With the good defensive work in front of him by his guards, there were fewer odd-man advantages for the Thunder where AD has to pull-off something crazy to get a stop. A lot of smart switching by the Lakers to reduce the number of those, as well. The Stats: He scored 24 points on 7-12 shooting (10-11 from the line) to go with 12 boards (4 offensive), 4 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 30 minutes. He was a +10.

Russell -- -- Love when he catches fire in the fourth quarter. He buried a tough iso three with the shotclock expiring and a man all over him in front of the Lakers bench to go up 20 early in the fourth. Next touch, he swished a step-back three after a fly-by. He buried his third three after giving it up and getting it back with the clock low and man all over him. “I kind of didn’t even see the rim,” Russell said. He was practically falling down as he shot it and ended up on the floor. “That’s what he do,” AD said. We certainly see that from him. What I really loved in this game was how disruptive he was defensively. He was anticipating passes, deflecting them and had active hands. Ham said this was the team’s best defensive game of the year. The guards just did a superb job keeping guys in front of them and positioning themselves well on help. Very active and effective. The Stats: He scored 26 points on 9-17 shooting (5-11 from three, 3-5 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 3 assists, 4 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a +4.

Reaves -- -- He had the three ball going tonight. He and Russell sank some tough ones against the shotclock. The passing was hit and miss. On the one hand, he was key for setting up teammates for threes. Getting into the paint, collapsing the D and finding open guys. That was working. Nearly all of his assists (except for maybe a dish to Bron on the break) were to three shooters. When he was trying to feed guys in the paint or post, it was an ongoing adventure and the turnovers piled up a little there. Defensively, he got the SGA defensive assignment early until Reddish came in. He and Russell were really competitive on that side of the floor, and once we got the bench defenders rotating in, things got even better. “He did a great job moving his feet,” AD said. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 6-8 shooting (4-5 from three) to go with 6 boards, 7 assists, 1 steal, 5 turnovers and 1 foul in 29 minutes. He was a +8.

Hachimura -- -- A little sloppy in this game offensively, just missing some hoops you thought he ought to have made (including a dunk and another drive). He did have some moments changing ends and scoring on the break. He and Bron will end up with a smaller man on them in transition and they can’t defend them. He picked up his third foul with a couple minutes left in the first half, but didn’t pick up any the rest of the way. A lot of switching between him and the bigs on D, which was smooth and efficiently done. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-8 shooting (1-3 from three, 0-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a -7.

Dinwiddie -- -- His best sequence of the night was blocking SGA on a jumper on one end, then scoring a layup on the other. That would be his only bucket. Key to success, though, was the defensive challenges. He had another sequence where he challenged SGA well, the Thunder got the miss and he switched on to Dort and challenged him well for another miss. Just our guards really competing on that end of the floor made a big difference tonight. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-4 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 1 block and 1 turnover in 24 minutes. He was a +35.

Prince -- -- The Lakers went on a run when he came in with the bench in the first quarter. As the Thunder made their subs, their game faded. The Laker subs really helped tighten up the defensive work. Prince did a good job on the defensive glass. Prince found his three ball offensively. He hit a corner three on a Reaves kickout. He knocked down another corner three on a flare screen set play. He sank a corner three on a Dinwiddie drive and dish. And he knocked down another corner to finish his barrage. Those threes in the fourth were big to the Lakers cruising to a win. Earlier in the game, he also attacked off the three line for a baseline pull-up. More of this, please. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 5-7 shooting (4-6 from three) to go with 6 boards, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a +22.

Reddish -- -- Strong game from the Laker guards defensively. Cam didn’t score or make any spectacular plays, but helped the guards hold the line and keep the Thunder in check. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting and had 2 boards and 1 foul in 13 minutes. He was a +11.

Hayes -- -- Good energy out there. He was a +14 before in about 13 minutes went to the garbage time with 5 minutes left. He finished a lob on the break on a pass from Bron and hammered a dunk getting downhill on the sideline pick and roll with Reaves. An offensive board of his led to a LeBron layup. He also had a nice pin-in flare screen to free up Prince for a three. Defensively, he blocked Holmgren on iso. He had a great boxout battling on the defensive glass, as well. No fouls, either. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-3 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 6 boards (4 offensive), 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and no fouls in 18 minutes. He was a +11.

Christie -- -- Out of the rotation, he got some garbage time run. He sank a three on a kind bounce off a kickout. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-2 shooting (1-1 from three) to go with 1 board in 5 minutes. He was a -12.

Hood-Schifino -- -- He came in with 5 minutes left and the Lakers up 24 points. He attacked on iso for a couple FTs. He missed a pull-up in early offense, a three and a jumphook in the paint. He also got backdoored for a score. He’s had some confidence-boosting games in the G-League. Hopefully, that will start carrying over, but just seeing improvement in the Summer League like Christie did should be the goal. The Stats: He scored 1 point on 0-3 shooting (0-1 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 1 board and no fouls in 5 minutes. He was a -12.

Giles III -- -- Some added size for the Lakers to help keep some height in the game. He got some garbage time run and missed a three. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting from three to go with 1 board in 4 minutes. He was a -11.

Lewis -- -- In for garbage time, he had two turnovers. One throwing a low pass to Hayes, the other a travel off the three line. The Stats: He had 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 4 minutes. He was a -11.

Ham -- -- Key Moment: After a strong third quarter, the Lakers took a 17-point lead into the fourth quarter. Lose the first 5 minutes, it’s anyone’s game. Win them and you can rest your guys. Thanks to Russell and Prince bombing threes, the Lakers won those minutes and were able to transition into garbage time with a 24-point lead and 5 minutes left.

Key Substitution: Prince and the Lakers bench guards helped tighten the defense up as we rotated out one of Russell or Reaves. Prince was a +29 and Dinwiddie a team-high +35. Reddish was a +11 in 13 minutes. As the Thunder went to their bench guys, they struggled against the tough D and Laker length.

Key Stats: The Lakers made 16-34 threes (47%). The Thunder made 15-39 (38.5%), so the Lakers won that category. Overall, the Lakers made 41-80 shots (51.2%). The Thunder shot 37-94 (39.4%) for the game. Good job locking them down, particularly between that first and second quarter. The Thunder scored just 18 points in the second quarter.

[Dr. Laker]

First!

Thanks, DB!
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On Lakersground, a concern troll is someone who is a fan of another team, but pretends to be a Lakers fan with "concerns".

[lakerlove123]

Dinwiddie +35!?!?

[Nobody]

Excellent win and finally some solid defense.

[ElginBaylor]

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Not a legend

[JUST-MING]

We have the blueprint for Oklahoma City. Control the boards.

[deal]

Thanks DB !!!
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Lakers need to build a freaking team !

[A Mad Chinaman]

Good things should happen when the Lakers play good to great offense

In Ham's present rotation (as DB has noted), Prince is generally playing the opposition's bench players where he can excel. If Prince can provide efforts, at least half the time he's on the court, his 6'6" height and length can provide some difficulty.

AR and DLo were able to stay in front of their opposite number

Since Dinwiddie and Cam(??) were our backup guards, they provided great D while providing only 2 points between the two while Prince provided 14 points.

Interesting Factoids
In the 2023-2024 season, the Lakers have a winning record against OKC, OKC has a winning record against the Nuggets and the Lakers have a losting record against the Nuggets. Lakers capitalizes on their length, energy and experience against OKC, wonder what OKC is doing and/or having that allows them to be much more successful than the Lakers against the Nuggets

[joeblow]

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB! Very encouraging win, a lot of guards participated in playing defense. We've had a couple good defensive outings recently, I would love to see that become a trend going into the playoffs.

[DancingBarry]