Lakers in the News 5/17/12: 6pm update: "Lakers Sequel: It Just Got Worse"

Cha*n · Star Player Joined: 20 Jul 2009 Posts: 7233

Thunder score final nine, beat Lakers

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)

Even down late, the Oklahoma City Thunder are showing that they are never out.

Kevin Durant scored 22 points and rattled in the go-ahead basket on a baseline runner with 18 seconds left, and the Thunder scored the final nine points to rally for a 77-75 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals Wednesday night.

Oklahoma City trailed by seven with 2 minutes left before surging back with a series of defensive stops by its stars to claw back from that deficit in the closing stages of a game for the second time this postseason. The Thunder also were down seven with 2 1/2 minutes left in Game 1 against defending NBA champion Dallas in the first round.

''They won't quit. That's not in their DNA,'' coach Scott Brooks said. ''They're not wired that way and if they were, they wouldn't be here. We're not going to win every game but we're going to fight to the last second of the game and we did that tonight.

Cha*n · Star Player Joined: 20 Jul 2009 Posts: 7233

Relentless Thunder Rally, Take Game 2

May 17, 2012 · 1:09AM

OKLAHOMA CITY – A seven-point lead with two minutes to play and one of the greatest closers in the game wasn’t enough to save the Los Angeles Lakers, not with the Oklahoma City Thunder lurking in the final minutes on their home floor.

Six points from James Harden, two critical turnovers from the Lakers and a Kevin Durant baseline runner with 18.6 seconds to play and what looked like a series equalizing win for the Lakers turned into yet another shocking comeback win from the Thunder, who struggled through their worst game of this postseason only to steal Game 2 in the final minutes at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Durant’s free throw with 0.3 seconds to play capped a 9-0 run for the Thunder, who won Games 1 and 2 in their first-round series against the defending champion Dallas Mavericks by a combined four points. That might explain why they didn’t panic in those final two minutes.

Cha*n · Star Player Joined: 20 Jul 2009 Posts: 7233

Commentary - Lakers need a short memory

After two heartbreaking losses to the Thunder, L.A. has to dig deep to come back

Updated: May 17, 2012, 2:56 AM ET
By Dave McMenamin | ESPNLosAngeles.com

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Los Angeles Lakers proved two things in their 77-75 Game 2 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday:

One, they can definitely hang with the Thunder, no matter how much younger and more athletic Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant & Co. might be.

Two, if you think being embarrassed by 29 points in the series opener hurt, it carries nowhere near the sting that a two-point loss after leading by seven with two minutes remaining does.

Brett Deering/Getty ImagesAndrew Bynum had a drastic turnaround from Game 1 to Game 2, but if the Lakers are going to dig themselves out of an 0-2 hole, he can't relent for one minute.

The question now is, did the Lakers prove enough to themselves to truly believe they can get back into this thing when the series shifts to Staples Center for Games 3 and 4 on Friday and Saturday?

Kobe Bryant, who has likened himself to the New York Yankees' Mariano Rivera in the past and embraces his reputation as basketball's greatest closer, registered the equivalent of a blown save in Game 2.

Cha*n · Star Player Joined: 20 Jul 2009 Posts: 7233

Reeling Lakers in 0-2 hole vs. Thunder

By J. Michael Falgoust, USA TODAY

Kobe Bryant scored 20 points for the Lakers, but he shot 9-for-25 from the field and was 0-for-6 from three-point range.

After the Los Angeles Lakers blew a seven-point lead late in the fourth quarter Wednesday, including two turnovers and an airball jumper by Bryant in the final two minutes of the 77-75 loss, they should be.

The Lakers were able to force the half-court, defensive battle they wanted but still are down 2-0 in this second-round series.

And even though this veteran team still has most of its core intact that won NBA championships in 2009 and 2010, with Bryant, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Metta World Peace, they seem deflated and generally don't play well from behind.

Follow J. Michael Falgoust on Twitter at @jmikeNBAusat. To get the latest sports news from USA TODAY, including game results, columns and features, follow us on Twitter at @USATODAYSports.

The Lakers weren't blown out, but questions about Bryant's decision-making and Brown's job security will be inevitable. Brown is in the first year of a four-year, $20 million deal.

Cha*n · Star Player Joined: 20 Jul 2009 Posts: 7233

I'm don about my team and need to go to sleep.

Read all you want if you are sadistic. lol

http://news.google.com/news/story?hl=en&gl=us&q=lakers&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ncl=dZkTbLEs_0n4kKMrFqBpgqE6MDPuM&ei=q6S0T7yKOOfciALQwpCCAg&sa=X&oi=news_result&ct=more-results&resnum=1&ved=0CDMQqgIwAA

Cha*n · Star Player Joined: 20 Jul 2009 Posts: 7233

Lakers Sequel: It Just Got Worse

By STEVE REDDICLIFFE
Published: May 17, 2012

The moment in question came at the end of the Oklahoma City Thunder-Lakers game on Wednesday night, which the Thunder won 77-75 to go up 2-0 in the Western Conference semifinals. Bryant’s performance? “He muffed it. He dropped it. He bricked it. And in the final seconds, when the Lakers needed him most, he never even touched it,” Plashcke writes.

Mike Bresnahan also notes in The Los Angeles Times that in the Bryant era the Lakers are 1-7 in playoff series after losing the first two games, and “not known as a team with a quick recovery time, they now face back-to-back playoff games for the first time since 1999.” The loss, he writes, will haunt Bryant and the Lakers for months.