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Lakers/Thunder: Game 2 Preview and Chat

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One of my favorite things about the playoffs are the adjustments that teams make.  The playoffs are like a drawn out chess match where coaches study the film, look at what both sides did to be successful, and then try to replicate that for their own team and put schemes into place to slow down the opposition.  Every game, every detail is looked at meticulously in order to try and gain an advantage.  This series will be no different and tonight we get to see which coaching staffs make the appropriate adjustments to give their players the edge.  As someone that loves the X’s and O’s of the game, this punch/counterpunch exchange that is drawn up by the coaches and acted out by the players is one of the best parts of the second season.

For the Thunder they need to try and find a way to continue the success that Russell Westbrook had in game one while also having some of their other players join the party.  First and foremost, that means getting Kevin Durant on track.  In the last game, KD struggled mightily when trying to shake free from Ron Artest’s smothering defense.  Over at Pro Basketball Talk, Kurt explained what the Thunder did to try and free Durant and how Artest combatted it:

To help Durant out, the Thunder ran some simple plays right out of every NBA playbook — some cross screens, some pindowns — trying to free Durant up on the strong side. Artest just blew those up and was in Durant’s grill the whole time. Two reasons for that. First, Artest has been seeing those since he entered the league. Artest is a smart player, a savvy one. If he knows it’s coming, you’re not going to succeed with it very often. You have to do better than the basics to catch him off guard.

Second, there isn’t a player strong enough on the Thunder to set a pick Artest can’t run through, especially on the screen-and-roll. Much like Durant himself, this is a young and lanky team. That serves them well in transition, not as well in a game of physical half-court sets.

The Lakers bigs also defended the picks well, they showed out on Durant enough until Artest arrived, which was not long. The Lakers were well prepared for this part of the Thunder playbook.

Brooks and his staff have to figure out ways to get Durant free. That may be better putting Durant on the weakside then using quick ball rotation to get him the ball in isolation. They can’t keep running basic sets and keep Durant on the strong side.

The Thunder will need to find a way to combat the way that the Lakers played these screen actions.  As Kurt suggests isolating Durant on the weakside and then reversing the ball to get him some touches may be a good place to start.  I also think that rather than starting Durant on the low block and then running pin down actions for him, they may want to run more actions where KD is at the extended wing and then move him across the court or towards the basket so he can catch the ball on the move more.  Artest is a demon when he can get you in his crosshairs and focus on a stationary target – something he proved again in Game 1.  Needless to say, the Thunder need to try and avoid those situations tonight if they hope to get KD going.

Conversely, the Lakers must continue to find a way to keep Durant under wraps (while also anticipating some of the Thunder’s adjustments and scheming for them), but their bigger task is figuring out a way to control Westbrook.  In game one, Russ was able to spring free in the open court and find creases in the Lakers half court D.  Russ got almost all of his baskets in the lane off pull up jupmers and hard drives to the rim.  So, the Lakers need to devise a plan to build that wall and keep Westbrook out of the paint and at a distance where he is less dangerous.

The first way they can accomplish this by being more selective on offense and not taking so many long jumpers with an unbalanced floor.  Too many times in Game 1, the Lakers took jumpers from the baseline with players in motion moving towards the basket.  When those rebounds went long, the Thunder were able to race up the court and create 3 on 2 or even 3 on 3 scenarios where Westbrook could play in space in one on one situations.  If the Lakers can limit these opportunities, it will go a long way in containing Westbrook.  This is obviously a major point of emphasis with the Lakers coaches, so we’ll see how successful they’ll be in executing their plans to hold Russ down better than in the last game.

Offensively, adjustments are also in order for the Lakers.  As we discussed in the posts proceeding game 1, the Lakers struggled with the fronting of their post players.  If the Lakers are to exploit their biggest advantage (their size inside), they need to find a way to consistently get the ball to Pau and Bynum on the block and let them work against the undersized Thunder.  My first suggestion would be to start the offense on the extended wing in the standard formation for a sideline initiation (ball handler at the hash mark, another player in the corner, post man at the low block).  At this point, if the post man is open, pass it to him.  However, if the post man is being fronted, the Lakers should pass the ball to the corner to flatten out the passing angle to the post man.  This pass to the corner not only initiates some of our offensive movement, but it should also help the  post player create a natural seal to the baseline side so that receiving the pass is much easier.  After the catch is made, the post player can go to work as normal.  My second suggestion would be to play more high low where the weakside big man flashes to the FT line in order to recieve a pass and then allow an easier angle to make a  lob pass over the top of the fronting defender.  If the Lakers can find ways to use either of these tactics, I believe they’ll have success against the Thunder’s fronting schemes.

Understand, that while Game 1 set the tone for the series, Game 2 can be the first real nail in the Thunder’s coffin.  OKC does not want to go home down 0-2 to the Lakers and facing the prospect of winning 4 of the next 5 games.  Like any other team that starts a series on the road, the Thunder had to come into these first two games thinking that all they needed was a split in LA to then have the advantage going back to their home arena.  Phoenix and Denver have already dropped games at home and lost their home court advantage.  The Lakers need to take note of those games and come out today to seize complete control in this series.  A win tonight can be the difference between a potential sweep (though I think 5 games is more likely) and a 6 or 7 game slugfest.  Focus, defense, and offensive execution will be the usual keys to produce a win.  Tonight we see if the Lakers can build on game one’s success and do what’s necessary to earn another victory.


Reader Interactions

Comments

  4. lil' pau says

    3, I don’t care so much about kobe this round– would rather force feed OKC a steady diet of Drew, Pau, and Lamar. Kobe’s D in game one was terrific– a repeat performance would be enough to make me happy.

    That said, I agree that the Mamba is due for a Mamba-like game and we’re going to need him at his best as we go forward.

  5. Darius says

    #3. Don,
    Whatever do you mean? I don’t see a comment from me. 😉 As you can see, I fixed it. Thanks for the heads up. Hahaha.

  7. kwame a. says

    Game 2 is such a pivotal contest in the first round. We have to make the homecourt count- that means bringing the same defensive effort from Game 1 and coupling that with a smarter, more inside-out approach on offense.

  8. Adrian says

    @don – there’s no shame in that, we all gotta go through this on our journey to enlightenment… 🙂

  9. 3ThreeIII says

    One thing I will say for Artest: His intensity never seems to waver. I have every expectation that he will hound Durant again tonight. Wouldn’t surprise me to see Brooks get a technical while complaining about it.

    Feed the beasts down low, play hard defense, take smart open looks.

    When you have talent, all you have to do is perform the basics correctly.

    Go Lakers.

  10. VoR says

    Artest is 6th in DPOY voting. I can see 3rd or 4th, but 6th seems a little low to me. Looking at the other names…East Coast bias anyone?

    I suspect he will be highly motivated tonight. But I think Durant will be, too. Should be an epic series between those two however many games it goes.

  12. ken says

    Expect to see OK come our running. I predict they will be up at half but the Lakers led by Kobe will come back and go ahead to win by 3 in the 4th.

    Expect bigger game from LO and Pau will be huge on offense,

    So there now we don’t have to watch thr game.

  13. jon says

    I was a little confused about the fouls called when Durant swung his arms through Ron’s body. Kobe does this move all the time, but he catches players with their hands on his arms. Don’t see how it’s a defensive player’s bourdon to avoid Durant whipping his wet noodles at their body.

    discuss.

  14. Bobji says

    If only it could be that simple ken. these are the lakers, so it’s going to have to be more dramatic somehow.

  16. Kenny says

    i want to ask the same question as jon.
    There was a play durant smacked the ball into artest’s chest and it was called artest foul. The commenters all agreed on the foul…but I dont get why it’s the defender’s fault if the guy with the ball smacks the ball into the defender’s chest.

  17. Rich says

    @16 – it was my belief that regardless if the ball hits the defensive player that still counts as impeding the progress of the offensive player hence the foul call? That’s just my understanding of the call.

    Also I think Ron will have a great game tonight. He seemed pretty upset at the DPOY results so I expect him to take it out on KD and hit some of those open 3’s. Let’s go Lakers!

  18. Mimsy says

    My predictions for tonight:

    1. Durant will be out for revenge and blood. He’s a competitive guy, and it was blindingly obvious he was, ahem, unhappy, with his performance and impact in Game 1.

    2. Kobe will take his frustrations at his own lackluster performance in Game 1 out on any Thunder players that comes too close. He will either win the game for us, or he will force things he shouldn’t and potentially cost us the game instead. Live by the Kobe, die by the Kobe. Either way… look for him to explode. He’s frustrated.

    3. Ron will be completely unafraid of anything the Thunder attempt to do to get Durant free to work, and will continue to harass, pester, and hound Kevin Durant as only he can. Ron is in full rottweiler-mode, and he knows very well what the team and coaches need him to do. He’ll get it done and done well, and come back for Game 3 with a vengeance. (Have I mentioned lately that I’m really starting to like Ron Artest as a player? He’s still certifiably crazy off the court, but on the court, he’s gold.)

    4. Jeff Van Gundy will say something completely off the wall incoherent at least twice in the first half.

    Uh-oh… there’s a major thunder storm coming in towards my area. Does anyone know what kind of sacrifice the thunder gods demand before they will agree not to strike any TV tower or my satellite dish at least until the playoffs are over?

  20. 3ThreeIII says

    Here is Rule #12:

    http://www.nba.com/analysis/rules_12.html?nav=ArticleList

    I cannot find anything in it that specifies that particular type of contact as a foul, either way.

    In FIBA it would be a “Cylinder Violation”, and a judgment call by the official as to which player enter which player’s cylinder.

    The NBA doesn’t use that definition though, so I have no idea…

  22. Rich says

    @ Mimsy – I think you’ll need to sacrifice a live chicken? lol

    I expect to see Kobe on Westbrook early as I don’t see Westbrook playing the facilitator role early as he probably gained confidence in the last game by how easy he was getting into the lane. However when he went on that 8 point tear our big man Drew was on the bench so here’s hoping Drew plays some more minutes and makes Westbrook think twice about taking it to the rim.

    Although I think KD will shoot better I also think Kobe will go Mamba tonight; he is clearly frustrated with the media/himself and I think he’ll be aggressive from the outset.

  23. The Dude Abides says

    Well, at least TNT turned away from the massacre in Boston. Now they have Kenny, Charles, and Ernie calling the Suns-Blazers game, and Kenny just said that the Blazers miss Outlaw and Blake. Umm, Kenny, they’re 16-3 or 17-3 with Camby. They don’t miss Outlaw when they already have Batum and Webster, and they don’t miss Blake when they have Bayless.

  24. Mimsy says

    @Rich,
    I did sacrifice chicken breasts to the flames of my gas-stove… does that count?

  25. The Dude Abides says

    Again, Fish did just fine guarding Westbrook in the half court. He scored the majority of his points in transition. He would have scored those buckets even if Kobe had been assigned to him. I’d rather have Kobe conserve energy most of the game by guarding OKC’s non-entity SG.

  27. Rich says

    @ Mimsy
    Hmm I think that’ll do nicely! And maybe it’s an omen? I mean we are playing the Thunder and thunder storms are considered bad so maybe just maybe that means that OKC will play bad?

  29. Tra says

    Recipe for Game #2 Success: Stick to the Script.

    1. Lock in defensively.
    2. Execute offensively from the inside – out.
    3. Limit Turnovers, which diminishes their open court/transition opportunities (Westbrook).
    4. Don’t take bad/forced shots from the perimeter.

    If we apply these 4 principles, no reason why we shouldn’t be headed to OKC up 2-0.

  30. passerby says

    man miami blew a golden opportunity. this game might have cost their series and their season already.

    phoenix looking set to win but portland has that swagger about them.

    i can’t help but want utah to keep winning. do we take an easy route to the finals or do we take the tough uphill climb? right now, i want us to have as much rest as possible.

    most interested to see ron-ron. i want to see some consistency from him on both ends. his D is great, his offense is needed. it won’t hurt to put up HOU numbers right? even as a fourth option?

    spoiled wishing.

    GO LAKERS!

    GO LAKERS!

  33. Mimsy says

    Either it’s the chicken breasts, or the sliced peaches, crushed red peppers and chili powder that I offered together with them, but the thunder storm seems to have passed…! I will knock on wood, eat more chicken, and hope for the best as I keep watching.

  35. Rich says

    I don’t like that OKC is taking so many threes. They are a worse 3 point shooting team than we are and even if they hit a few that’s a recipe for failure.

  36. Jaybird says

    7 FGA between Fish and Kobe so far, 0 for Bynum and Gasol combined…

    oh, there’s Pau’s first!

  40. stageon says

    yes! Thanks jonn matrix!

    atdhe was the only one I could get to work, and the quality is good 🙂

  41. Mimsy says

    I lost my internet connection for a while there (I can only assume the thunder gods disapprove of chili powder), so I didn’t get a chance to post this until now: Ron’s hair color is considerably improved from the last game. the purple logos, the consistent non-blotchy gold… it all bodes well.

  42. Rich says

    Good patience by Brown these two games, saw that the Thunder big wasn’t coming out to meet him and so he pulled up with a nice jumper.

    LO needs to know that KD loves that swing through move so he should be prepared for it when he’s playing tight.

  43. Chewy says

    Here’s to hopin Kobe finds his rhythm again. It seems to be eating into his aggressiveness/confidence attacking the basket

  44. Mark says

    Thunder with another dismal shooting in the 1st (6-of-21, 28% FG).
    Durant with 10 points on 9 shots early. Artest is getting bored with that matchup.

  45. ken says

    We could be up by 29 if someone hadn’t of served popcorn with butter before the game. Slippery hands!

  46. Tyler says

    I’ve counted 2 legit post-ups in this game. Gasol against Green is our single biggest advantage in this game but Gasol didn’t even get the ball down low until about 7 or 8 minutes into the game.

    I do like how they are walling off Durant and also any time OKC has forced a switch to get a good matchup to negate the advantage.

  47. Josh says

    Lakers looking pretty good again. But this is exactly the first round matchup we all hoped the Lakers would get…OKC just can’t hang with this squad physically.

  48. Rich says

    Up by double digits with Westbrook coming in against our bench, here’s where we need to keep the lead.

  49. AusPhil says

    Rich – Excellent point. If this lead can be maintained during a stretch with Westbrook on the floor and the majority of our starters on the bench, it will be a good sign.

    It would also be good if Drew would stop getting called for travelling violations!

  50. 3ThreeIII says

    What I really, really liked about Bynum just then: A couple of turnovers, and a good reason to feel frustrated and what he did was grab a defensive rebound and then hit a face up jumper.

    Bynum of a few years ago might have sulked, or still been thinking about what he did wrong. Now he just goes back to work.

    Very good sign for the future.

  51. Snoopy2006 says

    Every time Fisher enters the open court, I automatically think, “Wasted possession.”

    He’s wasting these beautiful defensive plays. Slow the frick down.

  52. Rich says

    AusPhil – thanks man, with some starters back in the bench basically did their job even in limited minutes and that’s what we need from them.

    As I say that great D from Artest but another breakdown in transition, looks like their to indecisive on what they should do so they make late passes which is leading to turnovers.

  53. BOO says

    Wtf? You can’t pick up the ball, walk two steps, stop, AND then pivot, without shooting or getting rid of the ball. Where’s the travel???

  55. Josh says

    I don’t see him taking all that many PUJITS this game Snoopy…not sure what you mean.

  56. zirk says

    How bout watching some footage of the Suns in the open court? 🙂

    Get this Chewbaca guy out of the game!

  58. Karl says

    Wow – can fish and the lakers run a decent fast break?! Man – they should be up by about 20 right now – they blew so many easy opportunities. Come on Lakers – take this team out already!!

  59. Snoopy2006 says

    It’s not the PUJITs, it’s the running blindly into a thicket of defenders and falling into the row of photographers. How have you missed that? Kobe rescued him earlier with a putback, and just now Fish threw a hopeless lob to Kobe after he realized he couldn’t score on the break.

    Also, credit where credit is due: I wouldn’t call the Thunder’s transition D great, but they’ve had some nice blocks recently.

  61. Rich says

    Come on Lakers, you had Thabo on AB but you attempt two 3’s instead? Really poor offensive execution these past few possessions which is allowing the Thunder to make a comeback.

  62. Monty McCutchen says

    Announcers just mentioned that the Lakers have 21 FGA in the paint but only 2 FTA. Compared to 10 FGA in the paint and 9 FTA for the Thunder. They are on to my tactics! Come on OKC start playing better so I don’t have to continue keeping you in the game!

  63. chearn says

    Lakers, will not be able to get away with playing like this in Oklahoma. If our bigs do not start DUNKING; instead of taking that soft crap up around the rim, its going to be another home court loss in the playoffs!

  64. ken says

    As bad as Ok is playing most team in the West would be up by 30/ Guess that’s why we are 18th in shooting in the NBA.

  65. 3ThreeIII says

    By the opposite token Pau Gasol drives me crazy.

    He is so damn good, and I know that complaining about him is spurious, but he does so many things to perpetuate that “soft” label.

    He almost never finishes, nor rebounds strong.

    I swear to you, I have no idea how he gets his 18 and 12 a night… I really don’t…

    He is great, but he could be so dominant if he played a little stronger.

    1) Finish using dunks with BOTH hands around the rim.
    2) Pull down rebounds with BOTH hands.

    (Thanks Pau. Major rebound. Blocked shot. Ran the floor and stuffed it home. Make me look bad all you want big man. Have I mentioned he drives me crazy?)

  68. ken says

    Is there any coach for the Lakers? How about demanding they stop shooting 3s.

    Do they ever listen to Phil anymore?

  69. zirk says

    I’ve never seen a team get swatted more than us. Seriously?

    Phx and Utah both shot over 49% from the field. Apparently, it’s not that hard…

  70. Josh says

    I personally would love to see Gasol add a little more bulk to his frame. I think if he added a little more muscle to that skillset…he’d be unstoppable.

  71. Karl says

    come on – everyone is praising Bynum but he isn’t playing against anyone big. Wait until he’s up against Shaq, Dhoward, Perkins, name it.

    Like Ken said, nearly any other playoff team in the west would be crushing the thunder by now.

    Come on lakers – you’re better than this!!! Let’s see you play some clean ball. Better passing – complete a fast break – dunk the ball on this small team with no inside presence.

  72. Snoopy2006 says

    I’m impressed by the shotblocking the Thunder have come up with today, especially in transition. I realize this isn’t vintage Kobe and he just doesn’t have that lift anymore, but still.

    Right now it seems like fastbreaks should only occur when we have a dunker running the floor; either a big or Shannon. Otherwise the fastbreak results have been pretty poor overall, at least as a % of the opportunities we’ve had.

    Durantula’s coming.

  73. Rich says

    With all the blocks OKC is getting in the paint the Lakers should start using the up/pump fake to get the OKC defenders up in the air and hopefully draw some fouls or get easier buckets.

  74. chearn says

    Turnovers, it appears as if the Lakers did not come out with the same focus as they did in game one. Did the Lakers not watch the Denver and Phoenix games?

  76. VoR says

    Part of the problem is that Kobe’s finger has really messed him up. He used to be one of the top two or three offensive threats in the league and right now he isn’t that. It’s just the way things are and the Lakers will have to scrap and fight.

    Of course that doesn’t excuse not pounding the ball down low against OKC.

  77. Snoopy2006 says

    Kobe, you know I’ve pledged my eternal undying love to you, but was that really necessary? I feel bad, he’s trying to push through his limitations but he never even had control of the ball, and he just doesn’t have the quickness to split the double anymore.

    We need more patience offensively. That’s all, and we’ll be fine.

  80. The Dude Abides says

    Wow…horrible officiating. Kobe was completely set. The big difference is our transition offense is horrible. We’re getting steals but not capitalizing on them.

  81. chearn says

    The Lakers don’t know how to run a fastbreak anymore, how sad. From ‘Showtime to Notime’. Too many, old heads that don’t practice running fastbreaks in practice.

  83. ken says

    This team is a joke. Who ever is the offense coach should be fired!!!!!!!!

    Never seen a worse offensive performance then this.

    They deserve to loss. There is no team work and no coaching.

  85. 3ThreeIII says

    Not sure why the Lakers are so intent on breaking the Thunder down from the outside in.

    Inside out works better.

    Play hard, and us some pump fakes, no doubt.

    Kobe is 6-15. He is actively harming us at this point… Facilitate the offense. Feed it to the bigs. Use post moves and cutters.

    *sigh*

    Let’s hope that Phil blisters the paint in the locker room…

  86. Zephid says

    lol, if I wasn’t watching the game I would think the Lakers are down 20. You guys are in some serious need of perspective.

  87. joel says

    Typical Lakers. Everyone one is going to blame Kobe but disregard Lamar’s complete waste of minutes with his mix of no offense and bad defense. Pau was not assertive and very indecisive when he had the ball. Artest and Fisher still can’t hit shots. The lakers all of a sudden forgot how to run a fast break. The lakers were outscored by 10 points in the second up 11 points mid way through the quarter and finished the quarter being outscored by 13 points. Terrible.

  88. glove32 says

    Lakers need to make adjustments and get the ball to Gasol and Bynum and run the offense

  89. chearn says

    Thunder players are feeling as though they can go down in this playoffs history as the team that stole homecourt advantage away from the old heads.

    Laker players are acting as though they’ll just ride Kobe’s back into the next round.

    Let’s not complain about officiating because if anyone has watched the games over the past few days, especially the Utah-Denver game, the referees are not calling anything that’s a touch foul!

  92. Darius says

    I’ve never seen a more skittish group of fans than those that root for the Lakers. I’m glad the players aren’t as nervous as some of you folks. In case some of you forgot (or if you never knew in the first place), the Thunder have been a top 10 defensive team the entire year. They play defense. We’re not playing the Warriors. The Lakers do need to get the ball inside more, but the Lakers bigs still aren’t getting around the fronting and the Lakers guards aren’t moving the ball enough to get the Thunder D moving to get post defenders turned around and on our bigs’ backs.

  93. Rich says

    @ 82 & 83
    first off we’re in the Western conference where the 8th seed has 50 wins, it’s not as if we’re playing a bad team. OKC was ranked top 5 in defense and all of a sudden some Laker fans are surprised at this? Let’s not forget we should know OKC would come out hard as in order to have a chance in this series they need to get the split here in LA.

    As for worst offensive performance ever? Obviosuly you don’t watch the Eastern Conference outside of their Big 4 teams. Also our best player has a fractured finger on his shooting hand, AB is coming off an injury, LO has to relearn his role as he’s now coming off the bench.

    Sorry but we’re only down 2 points and it’s not the end of the world.

  94. chearn says

    No, the Lakers are not down by 20, but they don’t look like they’re ready to play and the Thunder are fired up! These two equations do not equal a win.
    The last thing you want to do is make the Thunder believe that they can play with the Lakers, especially with them going home for three games.
    The Lakers have old legs and need as much rest as possible, this means that they need to end this series as quick as possible or they’ll be in a 7 game series. Believe me, that’s not something they want.

  95. ken says

    Here is perspective. OKC can’t shoot or play any worse and they are up.

    10 turnover and we are shooting 40%. Barkley just said Lakers frustrate him becuase they make the game so hard.

    Yelling at them for not bringing the ball in the post. They just called Lakers arrogant. There is your percpective.

    Sorry Rich if our best player has a broken finger why did he shoot 15 times, more then bynam and gasol togeather and have 5 shot blocked?

  96. Lakers Fan says

    why dont the lakers actually try to put the ball in the post? Gasol + bynum has a combined 12 shots, with Gasol 6 ft. Kobe has 15 shots…when you’re not that good anymore, you really should realize that and have someone good shoot a better percentage shot.

    Kobe acting as decoy and facilitating is the Lakers at their best, because he keeps the other team honest while giving the Lakers high-percentage shots. The problem is, Kobe is way too egocentric. Tim Duncan was fine having Tony Parker as 2007 Finals MVP…could anyone imagine Kobe allowing Pau become the 2010 finals MVP? His notion is either “we win a champion and I’m the best player with most stats, or we don’t win it.” What is wrong with him? Seriously…

  97. Mark says

    I’m off to this chat, can’t bear them again. 🙂 I’m sticking to my post, this will result in a blowout.

    Darius,
    Could you show us a clip of that Ron Artest where he stole KD’s pocket, then blocked Thabo’s shot twice? That’s unearthly!

  98. harold says

    I’m guessing PJ’s message wasn’t properly received by Kobe.

    I hope that this game somehow serves as one of those famous ‘let players figure it out on their own’ games.

    Really, Kobe, -10?

  99. Jerry R says

    Ken – I don’t even like barkley but i fully agree with him on this one. The lakers are thier own worse enemy – they make the game so hard when they could easily be crushing this team. Many, many missed easy opportunities.

  100. Lakers Fan says

    Sorry for double-posting, but with all the excuses about Kobe’s injuries…if you have injuries and can’t shoot the ball, then you should pass and have someone else who is effective shoot the ball!
    Basketball 101: if you CAN’T make the shots, pass it to someone else who CAN make the shots.

  101. DirtySanchez says

    LA just not respecting OKC in the first half so far. Their just playing just enough to get by, everybody should not be so surprised they have done this pretty much the entire regular season.

  102. Ray says

    Kobe stop shooting so much. Please give pau, bynum some shots thanks. U shouldn’t have more shots than pau and bynum combined. Thx.

  104. Snoopy2006 says

    81 – Tex Winter is already home. And that’s been a huge problem this entire year.

    We’re just not being patient right now. The ball’s not entering the post enough, and we’re pushing the pace and getting virtually nothing out of transition. With Kobe hobbled, how many good finishers do we really have?

    Fish and Artest are legitimately awful finishers, and Kobe hasn’t been good today. Unless our bigs are involved and running, I want Fish/Kobe to pull the ball out and just run the sets.

    It’ll be interesting to watch the pace of this game at the start of the 2nd half, see if Phil’s (obvious) message of patience gets through.

  105. The Dude Abides says

    I also think Phil brought back Kobe and Fish too soon. Jordan and Shannon were playing extremely well, pushing our lead to 11, then Fish came in and started wasting fast breaks set up by Ron-Ron’s steals.

  106. Tra says

    Some of you cats sound like you’re ready to jump off the top of a 50 story building. We’re down 2 against a good team (50 wins. In the Western Conference). Relax.

    Our half court defense is good, but we’re playing sloppy ball, which is leading to easy transition buckets for them. Kobe needs to calm down & stop forcing the issue. As a team, we need to get our bigs more involved. And once involved, they have to be aggressive & attack the rim.

  107. Rich says

    Alright I had to make another post. Yes Kobe has more shots than Pau & Bynum but they also need to get into deep post position and stay there and not back out the second they don’t get the pass. They are also being fronted very well and hopefullybwe can make those adjustments.

    Kobe was shooting 50% before he started taking it to the rim and the OKC defense was collapsing very well. Should he try to facilitate more? Yes of course but OKC still has to collapse when he drives and I expect things will pickup and Kobe will make the pass

    As for Kobe not allowing Pau to be MVP, etc that’s just not right. Sorry but Kobe is about winning and he’ll do whatever it takes to win, maybe you missed all the games where he would score below 15ppg and would let his team get the accolades.

  108. VoR says

    Lakers just need to slow down and take care of the ball. Run the offense. They’ll be fine.

  109. jeremyLA24 says

    The post is getting swarmed and cutters to the basket for that matter. Solution, get pau his 15 footer going to open up the paint. Have guys like Shannon cutting backdoor with the open paint. Lastly, get someone going from outside (I think Faramar is up for the task.)

    If this happens, we win by double digits. If not, its going to be a close one my friends.

  110. Zephid says

    105, I agree, the bench was playing well and we could’ve gotten some more good minutes out of them.

    You guys expect the Lakers to blow out every team, every game. That’s just idiotic. The Thunder are a damn good team and you guys are disrespecting them and their hard work. They’re playing excellent defense, working extremely hard on the glass, and keeping themselves in this game through grit and effort. You all are just disrespectful.

  111. 3ThreeIII says

    Bottom line so far:
    Fisher, Artest and Bryant are a combined 10 for 30 FGs (33%).
    Bynum and Gasol are 9 for 15 FGs (66%).

    At some point, if you are a professional team you have to, HAVE TO, go to your strengths.

    It simply drives us fans crazy that they are not.

  113. joel says

    112. Well it seems like most laker fans dont want kobe to shoot. But Phil needs to put Brown in for Fisher.

  116. joits says

    good god fish… STOP SHOOTING! especially PUJITs! save it for the finals or something… ehhe.

  119. dean says

    fish has great basketball iq – shooting the long ball early in the clock. what a dunce!

  121. 3ThreeIII says

    In short, I want the Lakers to act like a championship football team.

    You have a punishing, clock killing, possession oriented inside game that for our purposes is much like a power running game in the NFL.

    If you can use up 18-22 seconds of each possession, protect the ball, score at a 55-60% clip, draw some contact and get some defenders in foul trouble than no other team can beat you.

    But if you get the lead and start tossing the ball deep over the middle looking for killer scores don’t be surprised when the other team picks you off and is suddenly leading.

    Play smart, hard, and with discipline.

    (I am laughing after that last sequence… I don’t think the Lakers CAN play with discipline. We will see.)

  122. Josh says

    Boy if you want to talk about taking too many shots- the worst offender today is Fisher.

  125. Kobemoney says

    Geeesh you guys work my nerves! Kobe is not taking bad shots. Most of them have been in the paint- just missed. As for our Bigs I don’t see them REALLY fighting to get the darn ball. And bigs need to play BIG! Stop blaming Kobe for the score. Where’s Artest and Odom?

  126. chearn says

    Are we still calm? 50 wins and we act like we’re disrespecting them! Recipe for a disaster. What was that Stu, “Dunk the ball!”

  127. Rich says

    If your going to take it into the paint when OKC had already 9 blocks in the game and lead the NBA in blocks you have to remember to use an up fake and than shoot.

  128. KB24ever says

    Goddamn, they’re not going to go away, are they? I really wanted to see an improvement offensively over last game and thus a blowout. Now I’ll just be happy we cover the spread.

  130. Jane says

    @125, you said it!

    Terrible foul to end the Q. However, Lakers won the 3rd by 6. I, for one, am calm.

  132. joits says

    love the OKC is playing the lakers tough. seems like they’ve been sleepwalking since december… they need to wake up and i think OKC is going to do that to them. i hope.

  133. 3ThreeIII says

    132, Activity and aggression get calls… And if you happen to be spindly and fast you are going to get some calls from the confused older men that the NBA employs as referees.

  134. Kobemoney says

    Can Gasol make a Grown Man Move more than once in the game? He’s a really good player but won’t be called one of the Greatest at his position until he starts man-handling guys!

  135. Nathan says

    we barely win at home – now i would not be surprised if they go to okc and lose 2 or 3 there. i definitely think okc will have one blowout game against the lakers. they’ll get hot at home and lakers will continue to their sloppy play.

    sign up that half time dude to hit our 3 pointers since none of the lakers can make it.

  136. Burgundy says

    How is it that the Lakers are the only team in the NBA that has to play 8 on 5…AT HOME!!???

    WHAT THE #*#&$&?

    The Lakers are playing their behinds off. They came ready to play. It’s not execution or focus.

    The Thunder are being allowed to grab arms, smack heads, etc on every shot attempt…and it’s being called blocked shots?

    Durant got nothing but arm and it was called a block?

    It’s freaking Monty McCutheon.

    I hate making excuses, but the refs are controlling the game right now…OKC is being allowed to do whatever it wants under the basket like Boston in 2008.

  142. Rich says

    If a team puts itself in position to where the refs can determine the outcome than the onus is on that team to not let themselves be put into that position. I hate some of the calls but that’s part of the game.

  143. Danny says

    Bryant and Fisher both with 4 fouls. Blasphemous as it is, maybe the offence will be run properly now when they’re on the bench?

  144. Jane says

    Although I’m calm, I’m really bothered by how hammered our guys are getting and no calls. Don’t blame Kobe one bit for that frustration foul.

  145. Snoopy2006 says

    I’ve never seen Kobe this frustrated. We need to play through the refs.

    Grown man move from Odom right there. I love when he pulls out that Statue of Liberty move.

  147. KB24ever says

    With Kobe forced to sit and the other starters now sitting as well, Lamar time. I want to see him score a couple more baskets and remind these Thunderkind (German for “Thunder kids”) how dangerous he is. I don’t really trust anyone else on the bench except Walton, so right, step it up LO!

  148. joits says

    its understandable that there will be bad calls in a game… but it’s completely one-sided today. what’s up with the refs? giving the entire thunder team the superstar treatment as far as calls…

  149. 3ThreeIII says

    Well, I have a legitimate sense of dread.

    A note on officiating… I will never understand how you can land ON TOP of someone in the paint and that is no foul, but you can appear to graze an outside shooter and expect a whistle every time…

  151. chearn says

    Kudos to Scott Brooks, he’s coaching a good game. He’s negated the Lakers bigs and no one else is stepping up, except Kobe!

  152. joel says

    I was wondering why Kobe wasn’t getting any calls, then I realized Derrick Stafford is officiating. This guy never gives calls to Kobe. But Lakers are going to cough this game up. Its just a shame that this team just cannot score.

  153. Ibaka says

    Joits – Pls stop complaining about the refs. The calls have been pretty even today. I don’t see any favoritism. bTW, I’m a Laker fan.

  155. AusPhil says

    Nice of Kobe to give us that little cushion before the return of the OKC starters…

  157. Snoopy2006 says

    Yes! I love Odom being patient and pulling it out there, instead of forcing the fast break when it’s not there, like we did earlier in the game.

  160. Ibaka says

    The Dude – I’m no troll. I’ve been on this board before the Thunder even existed…way back when Kurt was the moderator. I AM a Laker fan…but you’ve got to be kidding yourself if you think the calls have been unfair.

  162. joel says

    Ibaka has completely outplayed Odom in every aspect of the game today, that is inexcusable.

  166. Dick Barnett says

    Lakers shooting a pathetic 38 percent, and Bryant thinks he can play by himself.

    Wonderful recipe for a loss.

  167. passerby says

    i like that okc is giving us the challenge we need…but hopefully the margin to keep winning.

  168. Zephid says

    159, we’ve never seen a beast quite like Durant. 6’10, long arms, range out to 27 feet, can handle and rebounds decently.

  169. han says

    caught the 4th quarter of last night’s jazz-nuggets game. they go at it hard. if we’re gonna have trouble remembering to box out and can’t hang on to the ball against oklahoma, I wouldn’t want to watch the semis.

  171. harold says

    Durant isn’t all that different from Dirk in terms of skillset, isn’t he?

    Pau! Show us what you’re made of!

  173. Jerry says

    OKC can keep pace with us at staples – they’re going to blow out lakers at okc. they aren’t going to shoot this bad at home. durant, westbrook are going to tear it up.

    This is slow torture for lakers fans.

  174. passerby says

    hey zephid, yeah and look how kobe-esque his cold dagger jumpers look. great for the league to have a bron, wade, durant era.

    but right now, it’s kobe’s time. a shame he is battered and injured.

    and checking my grammar, “hopefully” ain’t grammatically correct.

  175. joits says

    wow… lakers got a break on that kobe 3… which should have been a two. hope the game doesn’t come down to a one point win… don’t want any controversy.

  178. harold says

    I don’t think Fisher has any business hoisting 10 shots if he’s making 20%.

    Same goes for Ron now.

  179. passerby says

    man the defense this game is making the offense unbearable. i must admit though that a lot of our plays look forced, out of rhythm and out of whack (someone getting a deflected or blocked ball and cleaning up)

  181. pep007 says

    I really don’t get what’s about so many jumpshots and so few feeds inside where we are clearly superiors……

  182. Dick Barnett says

    Artest and Fisher are trying to shoot the Lakers out of the game.

    Artest is simply out of it.

  183. Yikes says

    NO WAY this team goes on to the finals. Do you see them beating Portland, Denver, Dallas, even Phx…they do match up against utah…but the others will just embarrass them.

  186. 3ThreeIII says

    Artest and Fisher are 4 for 20 at this point…

    Ooof. Artest is playing great defense, and I wish he wouldn’t give some of it back with the bad shots early in the clock.

  188. Burgundy says

    That was a wide open shot for Fish. He absolutely should have shot it.

    He also should have made it.

  189. The Dude Abides says

    The key for this game is if we feed the post down the stretch. I don’t want to see the outcome depend on 28-footers with a lot of time on the shot clock.

  190. Simonoid says

    Zephid, yes we have – he plays in Cleveland. Fine James is 6’8, but Durant is only 6’9. Not that different, and they both have decent range. Durant, admittedly, is a better shooter, but James is a better everything else.

  191. Snoopy2006 says

    It’s really hard to get the ball to Pau in the post when we have no spacing. That’s why Artest took that 3; he’s trying to make them pay for doubling Pau before the entry pass, but we just don’t have that shooting.

    I’d love to see a no-defense game (not in these playoffs) with Kobe and Durant both healthy, just to watch 2 brilliant scorers go at it. I still think Melo at his best is even more of a pure scorer than Durant, but this is ridiculous.

  194. joel says

    3threeIII said that the lakers need to play hard and smart with discipline. I laughed because isn’t a little farfetched to expect the lakers to play smart with discipline and as I type this Fisher fouls Westbrook on a jumpshot.

  195. harold says

    This could be the turning point of this game.

    Fisher fouling out.

    I’m sorry if I sound like Aaron today, but really, nothing I can say for Fisher tonight.

  201. harold says

    let’s see if our vaunted defense can get us a stop or two here.

    … or Kobe shooting us into the game. (I think all Kobe heard yesterday was LeBron’s 40-8-8… or rather, LeBron’s 40)

  202. Rich says

    Jerry – OKC isn’t even shooting bad, Westbrook is 5-10 and 1-1 beyond the arc, KD is 12-25 and 3-5 beyond the arc, they have nearly 20 blocks and considering how bad we’re playing we are still in this game.

    I’m still optimistic about this team and we’ll still win this series.

  204. Yikes says

    Can’t stand that we can’t even take out the thunder at home. what happens when we play a team with a real front court. simply pathetic.

  207. chearn says

    Durant has been getting away with that push off all game, against Artest and anybody else that’s in his way.

  211. 3ThreeIII says

    Collison just earned my vast respect. That is EXACTLY how to foul there. Make sure that they earn it at the line, and make sure no one gets hurt.

    Well done.

  212. Josh says

    Artest’s offense might be off right now…but man his defense makes me smile. Clutch tap.

  213. harold says

    Ron with 4 rebounds, 4 Steals, 4 Assists, 5 points and 2 blocks.

    He’s turning into AK47.

    Fisher with 5 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds and 6 fouls.

    He’s turning into… and old Fisher.

  217. chearn says

    Westbrook should let the inbound pass bounce a few times before he touches it, that way he can advance the ball without the clock starting that’s a text book coming from behind move. He did that last game, too.

  218. Jerry says

    I think the Thunder are a very good team but the Lakers are STACKED with talent. This shouldn’t even be close. Lakers just don’t play smart. I just don’t get it.

  220. harold says

    Hrm, hero shot coming. (Kobe is one basket away from 40)

    Hope it doesn’t come down to trading clutch baskets.

    Need. One. Stop.

  222. Mohan says

    Artest is open in the corner and Shannon puts up a 3 with seven seconds left on the shot clock.

  224. chearn says

    How many blocks does these young legs have? Even if the Lakers win, this game does not bode well for the Lakers in OkC!

  226. Dick Barnett says

    I can’t see this Laker team winning any games in OKC.

    They better hope they can win these games at home.

  232. sT says

    I am going to have a heart attack before this game ends, isn’t this just exciting basketball.

  235. Jerry says

    Dick Barnet – I agree – we barely win at Staples against a rookie playoff team. OKC is going to have at least one blowout game of the lakers. and they definitely have the confidence to take the lakers out. now they know they can hang with them.

  239. Jerry says

    Freaking ah!!!!!!!!!!!! I thought durant hit that shot. lakers stink!!! they lucked out so big!!!!!

  242. chearn says

    Who’s the championship team? Because OKC has made their freethrows down the stretch and the Lakers don’t!

  243. Jerry says

    This is no finals team!!!! I think Darius is going to ban me but the lakers are not going to make it out of the second round.

  244. AusPhil says

    Well. 2-0. 14 to go. And all that stuff.

    Time to let me breath out & allow my heart to re-commence beating.

  246. harold says

    Well, Gasol made 1/2.

    That’s acceptable, sort of. Definitely not in the worst clutch ever league.

    Can we complain about this win? I think we as fans are allowed to react a bit here with the kind of performance we just witnessed.

  250. Snoopy2006 says

    What are the odds that Kenny/Charles use the block party joke tonight?

    Durantula knows how to use those long arms, and Ibaka is a beast too. They don’t have a lot of strength in that frontcourt, but their athleticism and timing is off the charts.

  252. harold says

    If Green didn’t go 2/11, we’d have lost.

    But then again…

    Artest: 2/10
    Fisher 2/10
    Odom 2/9
    Bynum 3/9

    I think we could say that this is a good thing, unless that was a product of OKC’s defense and can be replicated.

  253. Bobji says

    wow. very lucky to miss so many free throws and still win by 3.
    strange…
    Ken predicted a 3pt Laker win.

  254. han says

    how can a W be this infuriating?

    drew had 9 shots, pau had 14, kobe had 28.

    fish, ron and LO shot a combined 6 for 29. 37% shooting as a team.

    if we’re gonna have to live with this, we won’t have to live with it for long.

  256. Rich says

    Things I learned from this game.

    1. OKC lived up to being #1 in blocked shots.
    2. They definitely are a great defensive team.
    3. Lakers still grinded out a win and showed some championship mettle.
    4. In order to win in OKC we need to work on our offensive execution and fastbreak offense.

    And finally, we have got to have the most fair weather fans out of the entire league. Constructive criticism is one thing but flat out giving our opponent no credit and basically being disrespectful.

    I don’t care how we win as there are no style points awarded and a win is a win and we’re now 2-0 and I don’t see the Thunder winning 4/5. I give all the credit in the world to OKC, they played a hell of a game but still came up short, can’t wait to play in OKC.

  258. KB24ever says

    glove32, hey man, dont get ahead of yourself. Aint nothin coming easy to the finals this year either, so its more like 2 down, 2 to go. Last year was no cakewalk and neither will this year be – keep in mind when we get to the next round we’ll be facing either the Jazz or the Nuggets. If its the Jazz, we went 3-1 with a pretty avg good margin of victory. If it’s Denver, we could have some trouble, as went 1-3, if you recall, with two of the 3 losses being by 26 and 13 pts, and the only win being 95-89. If we do end up facing Denver, it’s gonna be a dogfight. No one should take anything for granted in this tight Western Conference, even though we are the mighty Lake Show. Phil and the gang definitely aren’t, and neither should you.

  259. Darius says

    There are reasons for concern. But in the playoffs, you try to get to sixteen wins. Period. The Lakers are 2-0 and that is what we all would have hoped for. I can understand wanting the team to play better. I can’t understand complaining about a win.

  261. Dick Barnett says

    “kobe had 28”

    The Kobster: “Teammates, I don’t need no stinkin’ teammates!”

  262. Q says

    other than kobe and gasol, lakers just cannot make any shots. please stop saying how fisher comes up big in the playoffs. look at his line tonight. how is that different from the regular season?

  263. Yikes says

    What a sloppy, horrible, unprepared, can’t shoot for %$@# game. Like you all say, a win is a win but the lakers are going down very soon. i’d rather see lakers lose now than get to the finals and get SMOKED by th cavs. lbj will have a field day and i can’t live with that.

  264. harold says

    How you can win shooting 37.5% from the field, 27.3% from the 3, and 71.9% from the line is beyond me.

    We were also out-blocked by 14, and turned the ball over 16 times.

    We attempted one less FT than the Thunder too.

    We did outrebound them by 12, all in the offensive end, but when you get out-blocked by 14, you better get some offensive boards…

  265. KB24ever says

    I meant “pretty good avg margin of victory.” I just did something I hate that others do frequently on message boards, which sloppily. But my point still stands. Focus on the present, with look to the future from the corner of your eye.

  266. ken says

    if you go bacj to my morning post I said OK would be up a the half and Lkaers will win by 3. should have bet.

    fisher was 2 for 10 screwed up to fast breaks, fouled out with stupid fouls and took bad shot after bad shot.

    anyone want to tell me what a vet he is now. he singled handled almost lost this game with his bone head plays

  267. chearn says

    17 blocks by the Thunder and 12/15 free throws for Kobe. I don’t expect to see either of these stats in game 3!

  268. Don says

    wow Kobe 37 on a broken finger and bad etc etc? amazing. played an awful first half but just kept on being Kobe.

    that thunder team is fun to watch. Durant three point stroke and blocking shots seems like a 2k10 inspired team

  269. Snoopy2006 says

    I feel so, so sorry for Dwyane Wade.

    Blazers with the mid-series extension. Interesting move. I guess 1 great playoff game really paid off for Camby.

  270. Zephid says

    266, Fisher drew 2 fouls on Westbrook which caused Westbrook to go to the bench and got us the lead. If Westbrook had played his normal rotation, we probably would have lost.

    263, I think this reflects the attitude of everyone decrying the fact that the Lakers didn’t win by enough. You’re all just scared of the Lakers losing to the Cavs in the Finals, and just can’t handle losing. You’re all scared of the Lakers failing that you’re just protecting yourselves by predicting losses. You’re all just a bunch of fair-weather fans that wouldn’t give a shit if the Lakers weren’t winning. And that’s just weak.

  271. chearn says

    So far there’s one reason I love the playoffs in 2010:

    The referees are letting them play! If you don’t believe it you should have watched that Utah, Denver game. Unbelievable, how physical that game was!

  272. LJAY says

    We had only 3 players reaching 50% shooting %, (and two of them only shot 4 times), and still we got the win………

  273. Dick Barnett says

    Ken – “fisher was 2 for 10 screwed up to fast breaks, fouled out with stupid fouls and took bad shot after bad shot.

    anyone want to tell me what a vet he is now. he singled handled almost lost this game with his bone head plays”

    I couldn’t agree with you more, but Fish has no business being in the game for as long as Jackson plays him. He is an old vet, with legs that are worn down. But, who else can come in and do the job Jackson wants in that triangle? Farmar? Brown?

    There just is no one else. I don’t blame Fish, he does the best with what he has left, and that just isn’t much anymore.

    The issues that have plagued this team all season long are still there. They defeated a young team two games in a row on their home court, barely ekking out the win tonight. If I’m the Thunder I don’t think I can beat the Lakers, I know I can beat the Lakers. They came up a little short tonight on the NBA “freakin” champs. They gotta like their chances going home, and if they come back here tied 2-2, there is no reason why they can’t go home next week up 3-2.

  274. R.J. says

    My nomination for title of the Game Wrap Up Thread:

    The NBA Playoffs: Where Ugly is Beautiful

    Huge win for the Lakers, as per usual they fought not just a valiant and talented opponent but themselves and came out with a victory. The laundry list of complaints is already in full flow , so I’ll save those for later, save one. Darius talked earlier today about the Lakers utilizing High Low Action, and save for one play late in the game, the Lakers still are not doing this with the consistency necessary to win.

    Nevertheless, they held serve, and need only play .500 ball the rest of the week to go up 3-1….Exactly where the Cavs and Celtics sit heading to the first round of venue changes.

    Ron Artest has been fantastic these last two games. You’re never going to bottle up a talent like Durant, but Ron Ron’s tenacious D in the fourth and down the stretch was great to watch.

    Bottom line for me is that we’re up 2-0 and we know we can play much better than we have. Yes, OKC will get a bump from the home crowd and will obviously be a tough out there, but I’d argue that the first LO sighting we have in these playoffs will be the end of the Thunder, and he like our team, needs only show up in 1 of the next two to put a stranglehold on the series.

    I repeat: NBA Playoffs: Ugly is Beautiful

  275. BOO says

    Nobody would care if the Lakers win an ugly Game 7 in the Finals. The commentators here care NOW because, based on tonight’s performance, it raises concern for the future. A decisive win is more than just a W. It brings momentum and, depending on your view, a psychological advantage.

    I personally think it’s a good win. Sure, it was ugly, but the Lakers grinded it out. The Thunder’s regular season record is identical to Boston’s, and the Celtics are in the east! The Thunder would be the 4th seed in the east (or 3rd, likely). Imagine a Cleveland vs. Boston first-round. A win is a win is a win.

    What I don’t understand is why, Darius, you insist on looking down upon the people who DO choose to criticize a “bad win” and call it “complaining.” As mentioned, they are criticizing a bad win because they want the Lakers to play better. Essentially, they are voicing the improvements they wish the Lakers would show. Why not let them voice their opinions, as opposed to showing up with your big purple box and frowning condescendingly upon them?

    When I see people overreacting, I just leave it at that. They are entitled to their opinions, even if those opinions are expressed during a time when they are most frustrated. Calling another person’s concern a “complaint” is just belittling.

  276. Yikes says

    The Thunder came out the last 2 games playing like the studs. They now have the swagger and the Lakers and duds. I give the Thunder total props – they have come to play and the Lakers haven’t. Those shooting numbers are atrocious!!!

    If the Lakers gave half the effort the Thunder are putting out they’d win by double digits.

    That is what is weak!!!

  277. Darius says

    For some fans, winning will never be enough. For all of you, I feel pity. You seemingly don’t enjoy the wins and fear the worst and it tarnishes everything. For all the bitching and moaning and complaining you can’t appreciate a hard fought win where the other team doesn’t give and inch and never gives up but the team that you supposedly root for still pulls out the win. You probably didn’t watch Portland take out Phoenix on Saturday or Utah beat Denver last night. Every game isn’t easy or a blowout win. Your busted crystal ball that said this should have been a blowout is not reality. There are plenty of other sites where you can take your complaining too. I won’t miss you. Honest, I won’t.

  278. sT says

    I am happy tonight with this win, relaxed and peaceful at last, 2 more to go in this series, that is just 2 more games to play aganst the Thunder. I mean, we cannot play any worst than tonight, right? I can handle that and keep enjoying some more playoff basketball along the way.

    I just saw your comment Darius, right on!

  279. Rich says

    274- the Thunder know they can beat the Lakers? They just played a hell of a great game, nearly set a record for blocks, we played with poor execution and yet they still lost. If anything I would think doubt is creeping into their minds about now.

    What happens when we play better? Just me but after everything they threw at us they have got to be thinking what the hell is it going to take to beat this team (LA).

  280. Yikes says

    Zephid – call it how you like but i did not enjoy watching the lakers get their azz wiped off the floor by boston in game 6. That should have never happened but the lakers are the ones with the weak attitude. The tower over the thunder and can’t dunk the ball?

    Letting a rookie playoff team take you to the limit on your home court is weak.

    Letting the rookie team outplay and out hustle you is inexcusable – that is weak.

  281. Simonoid says

    Darius & Zephid:

    Just relax – it’s not that hard to ignore them. Read the comments that do matter. I just scroll past the idiotic ones.

  282. jeremyLA24 says

    Thunder, What comes to mind:

    *Top 3 MVP candidate that had this season’s scoring title.

    *Western Confrence team that had 50 W’s

    *One of the most talented fast break teams in the league

    *A well coached team that is underrated on defense.

    *Last but not least, a playoff calibre team that is playing inspired ball.

    Bottom line is, it happens guys. Like fellow FB&G’ers already said; we’re not the first to struggle against our lower seated counter parts. Game 2 for Cleveland took a miracle performance from Lebron and they are playing a worse team in the eastern confrence that doesn’t have a superstar like KD.

    Chill Y’all. I’m happy^

  283. Anonymous says

    275, BOO, very well said. I couldn’t agree with you more! It’s funny, the people who are frustrated with the team’s play and make critical comments WHEN IT’S DESERVED aren’t being disrespectful to other posters on here. They’re not telling other fans how they should think, feel, react, etc. It’s actually the other way around. Apparently, it’s not a two-way street around here.

  284. Darius says

    Boo,
    It’s my site and I can do what I want.

    If you want to know more, though, it’s simple. Sure fans want the team to play better. I want the team to play better. But that’s not what’s being expressed in a lot of comments. I’m reading a bunch of garbage about how “the Lakers are duds”, that “the Lakers are going down soon” and another fan saying I’m going to ban him because he knows that he’s just commenting in a pure in the moment, frightened state. This site should be about nuanced analysis, not panicked reactions that are purely visceral in tone. Like I said, I run this site and I’m tired of it. I’m not Kurt and would never speak for him, but I have a feeling he’d be thinking the same thing. Many, many Lakers fans are spoiled and petulant. They’re worse than worst things they say about the team they supposedly love. There’s tough love and then there’s abuse. Many fans don’t know the difference. I’ve never once claimed to be smarter than anyone, and I won’t now, but perspective is needed when you follow any team. I don’t look two months down the line and claim to know what’s going to happen. What’s the point in that? To save the heartache? I enjoy the ride and appreciate as far as we go. I feel disappointment just like the next fan, but I also feel good in the face of what it takes for a team to win. Others just want to demean whatever positives come from a game like this and then mock those that say they’re happy. I’m not going to have it. Those folks can go somewhere else to cheer for their team. I honestly don’t care. I’ve been around here when this team was legitimately bad. Lottery, Kwame, Smush, Cook. And even in those days we had real discussions about the team. Now that we’re on top again it’s all BS expectations and “we should’s” in every thread. Please. It’s tiring.

  285. Rich says

    280 – Young team doesn’t translate to poor team just so you know. Apparently you don’t watch other games besides the Lakers because if you did you’d realize in the playoffs seeding doesn’t always matter. Ask Dallas how that goes when they lost to Golden State as the 8th seed.

    OKC had 50 wins this year in the Western conference, do you realize what that even means? They had a 27 win differential from last year, they were basically a 2 wins from being the 3rd seed because of how contested this conference is. Obviously though you give OKC zero credit, this is the playoffs, win or go home. Let’s all excuse the Thunder for not laying down and allowing us to win by double digits; how stupid are we for thinking our opponent would take this seriously.

    Oh and the playoffs are about adjustments, OKC knows our advantage is in our height so they fronted and didn’t really allow the post entry pass . You can’t always go to your strengths when your opponent takes it away from you.

  286. Darius says

    Simonoid,
    Sorry, but I have to read every comment on here. This is the site that I run and invest my time in; the site I try and make a great place for people to come and intelligently discuss the Lakers. When it devolves into some of the stuff that was written on the boards tonight, I take it personally. If I didn’t, I doubt I could give this site my all and try to put out things that I hope are worth it to the people that visit every day.

  287. Tra says

    A well earned victory. This young team from OKC has no quit in them. Their defensive tenacity is crazy. 17 BLOCKS. WOW. Granted, they might have gotten away with a few fouls on those blocks, but you have to give their much smaller bigs credit for the way they challenge every shot and defend the paint. Like I stated on a previous thread, defense is all about effort & they definitely maximized theirs 2nite. Playoff basketball @ its best. So for all you cats on here complaining ’bout why we’re not beating this team more decisively, GET OVER IT. Nothing is going to come easy for us. We’re going to have to earn it.

    STANDING OVATIONS:

    Pau Gasol – Solid game, except @ the ft line.
    Kobe Bryant – Solid 2nd half & took over in the 4th.
    Ron Artest – Made Durant work for every point.

    LAKER 4 LIFE ….. GO HARD OR GO HOME

  288. Joe says

    The Thunder arent necessarily a great team, but they play really really hard and they arent scared of the Lakers at all. Experience is what won game 2 for us tonight. I expect the Thunder to take game 3, but I think the Lakers can steal a win in game 4 and possibly close it out in 5. I thought the Lakers executed better on offense in the second half and got the ball in the paint a lot more, despite all the block shots.

    Now I am with all of you that arent completely satisfied with the way the team is playing, but did you guys really expect this team to just start playing their best after the horrible closeout of the season we had? You have to get used to it, this team is gonna struggle throughout the playoffs, they arent gonna blow teams out. So the lesson I have learned is, dont expect too much from this team, they are not the Laker team of last year.

  289. The Dude Abides says

    I don’t mind Kobe taking all those shots when he’s on. The team did have trouble getting it to our bigs down low. One unsuccessful attempt would be made, then Ron or Fish would chuck up a brick. I only saw three times all game where they attacked the post fronter by swinging it to the baseline and letting Pau or Drew seal off the fronter and go toward the hoop. One time Drew tried it, and Ibaka sent his shot into the crowd.

    There was one time in the first half where we attacked Pau’s fronter by having Drew swing around from the weak side, catch it about three feet below the FT line, then feed Pau for a dunk after Pau’s seal. And then we didn’t try that play for the rest of the game!

  290. lesha says

    if im the thunder, im thinking “wow, they really tried to give us that game, and we still lost…”.

    every game you guys are complaining about everything. if kobe hits a tough shot, it was bad shot selection. if kobe misses a good shot, he is getting really old. and my favourite posts are questioning why fish and artest even dare to shoot. those are the funniest. if our guys (not named pau, kobe and drew) dont shoot when they´re open, we might aswell just pack our stuff and go home in the first round. i dont care if they are 0-40, they HAVE to shoot or EVERYONE will clog the lane when playing us and double-team our bigs and kobe. basketball is about rythm and ron, fish and our bench have yet to find theirs. i dont mind losing a couple of games because of bad shooting by those players as long as they shoot within the offense.

    understand that we cant run every posession through pau, drew or kobe. that makes us not only predictable, but also those guys will run out of gas by the conference finals for sure.

    just look at the thunder. even they understand that they have to get their guys going and cant rely on kd and westbrook only. they had an amazing chance to steal a game tonight, and scott brooks didnt play his two stars the entire 4th quarter. i mean those two are as fit as they come… they could´ve played 48min. + overtime.

    we are winning games by shooting around 40-45% against a 50 win team. think about it: if our “other” players find any kind of rythm, we will be blowing teams out by 20 (and thats the only thing that you care for anyway, right?). this series is still a sweep, 4-1 at the most.

  291. jodial says

    Wow, Kobe was suffering no fools in his postgame press conference. I don’t blame him…his demeanor reminds me of the look on Kareem’s face when people were burying him about seven years too soon. You’d think the guy would have earned the right for people to believe in him, in his own home town.

  292. sT says

    You want to know something, this site is not owned by the fans, I believe it is privately owned, is it not? We are allowed to come here and talk Lakers basketball in an intelligent manner, and are not just supposed to rant and rave left and right about whatever we want in any manner we so choose. Anyway, if I was OKC I would wonder just how they think they can win a single game from us now, I am not worried anymore about them, and I hope to see just as an exciting game Thursday, with our 3rd W.

  293. ray says

    The Dude Abides,

    Kobe isn’t on. Sad to say. We can’t win a championship without him, and he is still the best 4th quarter option in a close game. But shooting 16 times in the first half when that is more than Pau gasol and Bynum shoot combined is not acceptable in this offense. 12/28, 13/15, 1 asst… I really don’t like that line regardless of how he played in the fourth quarter. He was 4/8 in the fourth quarter which was great, but Pau was … 1/1 in that quarter. His scoring was in the FT line, but pau was 9/13 at the line tonight.

    I’m happy for the win. I am. But I think that needs to improve. The balance of the shooting needs to improve a lot. An injured Kobe should not be taking 14 more shots throughout the entire game more than Pau.

    Good win though.

    14.

    Darius, keep up the filtering. People let their emotions get to them play by play here. They play the games for a reason. THE LAKERS ARE NOT ENTITLED TO THIS CHAMPIONSHIP EVEN THOUGH THEY SPEND THE MOST MONEY OVER ANY OTHER TEAM. We play the games to earn it. Cuz if we didn’t, then it wouldn’t matter. We won. POint out things that will make them better for the next game. Things that you’d like to see. But I agree with Darius. If you want to just say that the Lakers aren’t going to win a championship… yah we get it. You don’t believe in them or think they have a chance. We get it. You want to hate on the team for some reason.

    anyway sorry for the rant.

    We’re going to need to be more selective with shots at OKC. They will be pumped. THis is the only big league sport they have there right? Emotions will be big. They will run early and get a 8-10 point lead on emotion alone. Lakers will need to weather that and run their offense to get it back. I still say Lakers in 4.

  294. dave in hillsboro says

    281, as a rare commenter and frequent reader of comments, I’d prefer that Zephid and Darius shoot down those pessimists immediately. The time for negativity is over. Now is when we support our team.

    That said, I’m totally fine with constructive criticism, but just saying “player x sucks, take him out” is the exact opposite of constructive. It’s destructive. If one has a criticism of this team or its players, then express it positively–“player x needs to do a better job” or “the Lakers should do this to fix that problem.” But for the sake of this team, stop with the unfiltered negativity–especially after a hard fought win.

    We’re supposed to be rooting for these players, not tearing them down every chance we get. We can express what we think they can and should do better, but just giving up on them is not an option.

  295. The Dude Abides says

    My favorite tweet of the night. This is from Khloe Kardashian…LOL
    ————————————-
    @lalavazquez seriously! They are cheaters! LOL
    about 2 hours ago via TweetGenius in reply to lalavazquez

    I hate how the ref are cheating! Is this legal?
    about 2 hours ago via TweetGenius
    ————————————–

  296. zirk says

    I’m not so sure that the frustration with a lot of us is necessarily due to not blowing teams out. Do I want to win every game by 40? You’re damn right I do! It certainly would help keep my blood pressure low. But of course that’s an unrealistic expectation.

    My frustration is that we’re barely winning because we are not playing well, and haven’t played well for a majority of the season. Now if we played a great game and still barely won because the other team just played out of their mind, then I could live with that and just tip my cap to the opponent. But come on. OKC has not exactly lit up the court with their play so far. And yet the games have still been close? If we played our best, OKC wouldn’t come close to hanging with us, despite being a pretty solid team (yes, pretty solid, not great). But constantly shooting 40% or worse as a team, having players shoot 2 for 10 or 1 for 9, and missing wide open shot after wide open is f-ing frustrating! How can it not be?! I know when I played sports, if my team or myself played like crap, I’d be pissed, regardless of whether we won or not.

    Now the bottom line is that a win is ALWAYS better than a loss. ALWAYS! But I’m not really a believer in the whole “a win is a win” crap for various reasons. That’s just me.

    But I firmly believe that we are a lot better than what we’ve shown these first two games and for much of the season. That’s why I get frustrated! Because we’ve witnessed it! Maybe that’s why we have such high expectations.

    So let’s hope they start playing to their capabilities from this point on. And if not, we’ll just have to sweat out the tight games and keep hoping for the best…

  297. mbenga says

    here here, Darius!! I totally agree with you. A win is a win in the playoffs and I for one am elated that we are up 2-0. There are certainly areas of improvement, but we are beating a very good team in a high pressure situation.

  298. ken says

    I am sorry for my attacks on Fisher. It hurts me toi watch him. 2 for 10, bad fouls, bad on 3 on 1. I want him to play better. But he can’t. He was a minus 12 by far the worst performance on the court next to Green. Ig green had shot like normal we could be down 2 to 0. It just kills me that Philil play him for 30 plus minutes. Farmer or Brown can’t do worse. I look to the rest of the playoffs and see him only holding this team back.

    That said it was a gut check win for the Lakers and Kobe was the difference. I beg Phil to limit Fish’s minutes. When he bricked back to back shots with the 2nd one coming with 19 minutes left on the clock I almost broke my TV. He plays like a rookie and TNT announcers said the same.

    If Brown or Farmer would have taken those shots they would be pulled in a second and that is wrong for the team and us long time Laker fans.

    Thank you

  299. jeremyLA24 says

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95HMrsghrsQ

    This is probably the Lakers alot of people are looking for and I got to say there are many reasons I don’t blame you. I used to hate San Antonio and Detroit’s “drag it out defensive Basketball” but now it just seems like that has become us, if not even more extreme. On those teams you at least had streaky players like ginobili, parker, hamilton, and even prince who could knock down 3 after 3. This team truley does rely on its length, Defense, and post threat.

    Every now and then we get a glimpse of that 2008/2009 ball swinging/ cutting and diving action that this team thrived on but that just isn’t our MO any more. We just need to be happy that our beloved team has a brand of Basketball that makes them contenders for the title. Also, if your think about it, playing “drag it out defensive Basketball” would make it very hard to blow out the opposition on a day that your opponent shows up with good defense too. Hmmmm… Kinda like today!
    (I didn’t put a comparison video of our recent style of play because it should be rather fresh in your mind. If not refer to the game recap at the top of this screen.)

  300. ray says

    ken,

    i’ve said this to you many times. But maybe theres a reason he’s played so much. By Phil. A pretty good coach. We’re already not running the triangle well, and when farmar and brown are in, they over dribble then shoot also.

    How many championships have those TNT announcers won anyway?

  301. Yusuf says

    Game 3 is going to be a great one.. Im expecting a let down cuz the Lakers are probably feeling comfortable and OKC is going to come out with their season on the line. That building is going to be somethine else..

  303. KB24ever says

    re: 299 Jeremy,

    That’s an excellent point. I think that’s the same reason our ppg and off. eff. were markedly down this year – way less fast break points. And of course the consistently shitty 3-point shooting didn’t help. But you’re right, that’s the kind of team we’ve become, for better or worse, but it is still good enough to be championship contenders. Nice post my man.

  304. Zephid says

    286, as Darius said, we moderators feel an obligation to get your comments through moderation as fast as possible while maintaining the integrity of the site. Because of this, we read every single comment posted here. Frankly, I would love it if Darius just said “f*** it” and decided to just start removing comments that were overly negative. But the spirit that Kurt instilled in us is one of keeping the integrity of all opinions. We let your comments through moderation because we understand the need to vent and the fact that you get caught up in the emotions. But this is overkill at this point. Every point is either negative or someone agreeing with a negative comment, and they’re mostly not based on fact, more based on generalities, such as “Fish is a waste of time,” or “Kobe needs to stop shooting.”

    Not all the negative comments are bad, some of them are legitimate criticisms with insight and depth. I feel bad for the few people that actually make these quality criticisms because they get lost in all the trash, so when people come down on the negativity, they feel attacked as well.

    And as for Fisher, he drew two key fouls on Westbrook early in the game. If Westbrook wasn’t off the floor for most of the 1st half, we would have lost the game. So to say that Fisher almost lost us the game is looking at it from a very naive angle.