Lakers in the News 5/18/12: Lakers finish strong to beat Thunder in Game 3 of series

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Lakers vs. Thunder, Game 3: What to watch

May, 18, 2012

By The Kamenetzky Brothers
ESPNLosAngeles.com

There is a popular saying that a series doesn't really begin until the home team loses. History, however, says that when the home team holds serve in the first two games, the series is over. Courtesy of ESPN Stats & Information, teams up 2-0 have won 94.2 percent of any series. Even the Lakers, among the most successful franchises in sports history, have only won 10.5 percent (2-of-19) after falling into this hole. The last successful bucking of the odds required a miracle shot from Derek Fisher (ironically now playing for the squad looking to eliminate the Lakers). That's what ultimately made the inability to close out Game 2 even more painful. A split in Oklahoma wouldn't have put the Lakers in the driver's seat, but an upset at least would have felt somewhat feasible. Instead, a battle uphill from the outset has taken on the feel of K2.

For more thoughts on Game 3, we conducted an instant-message exchange with Royce Young from the True Hoop network's Daily Thunder blog. Below is the transcript.

Andy Kamenetzky: As much as Game 2 was about the Lakers' failure to execute down the stretch, it was also reflective of the Thunder not giving up and remaining opportunistic. How characteristic is that of their nature?

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Lakers prepare for back-to-back blitz vs. Thunder

LOS ANGELES (AP)

If the Los Angeles Lakers can just shake the memory of the disastrous final two minutes of Game 2, they'll find plenty of reasons in the first 46 minutes to be encouraged about their chances this weekend against Oklahoma City.

After blowing a seven-point lead and the chance to steal homecourt advantage from the powerful Thunder on Wednesday night, the third-seeded Lakers' fate will be decided rapidly at Staples Center, with back-to-back games Friday and Saturday. Oklahoma City leads the series 2-0, and could earn its second straight trip to the Western Conference finals Saturday night.

The Lakers have now lost four of their last five playoff games since taking a 3-1 lead in the first round against Denver, but they imposed their favored style on Game 2 until their late collapse. Los Angeles locked down Russell Westbrook, limited Kevin Durant with double-teams and thwarted the Thunder's transition game, holding Oklahoma City to its lowest scoring total of the entire season.

None of it helped when the Lakers allowed nine unanswered points to close the 77-75 loss, but at least they know shutting down the Thunder is possible.

''I don't think we have many pieces to pick up,'' center Andrew Bynum said after the Lakers' workout Thursday in El Segundo. ''We know exactly how to defend them now, and offensively, we (have to) make them pay for being aggressive. ... They protected their home court. It's the playoffs, and obviously we let one slip, but we've got another one coming up.''

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Lakers' hope calm attitude helps them in latest struggle

By Mark Medina

May 18, 2012, 7:21 a.m.

In just one day, the Lakers' mood shifted.

After the Lakers' 77-75 Game 2 loss Wednesday to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Kobe Bryant appeared frustrated over not taking the final shot. After Thursday's practice, Bryant instead praised Metta World Peace for passing to an open Steve Blake. Once the Lakers' 0-2 deficit became official, Pau Gasol left the court with a saddened look. After Thursday's practice, Gasol professed the loss is "behind us." After Blake's missed game-winner, he acknowledged the disappointment over letting his teammates down. After Thursday's practice, Blake hardly second-guessed himself.

"If you dwell on something too much, it can hurt you," Blake said. "We're not going to let that happen."

That remained a challenge in itself in Thursday's practice, which consisted of a 45-minute film session outlining all the mistakes that led to coughing up a seven-point lead with two minutes remaining. The results hardly looked pretty. Bryant missed his final five shots and committed a turnover. The Lakers allowed the Thunder to close the game out on a 9-0 run. Blake missed a wide-open three-pointer on the final play.

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Lakers’ Steve Blake, wife get Twitter death threats

ASSOCIATED PRESS May 18, 2012 2:26PM


NEW YORK — Lakers guard Steve Blake and his wife have been attacked online since he missed a possible game-winning 3-pointer against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 2 of their Western Conference semifinal.

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Lakers-Thunder Game 3: How bad are things for the Lakeshow?

Some strong questions being asked here about the future of the Lakers by Jim Rome to Bruce Feldman and Michael Lee.

1. Was the final play drawn up for the Lakers, a wide open three-pointer by Steve Blake, a good play? Or should the ball have gone to Kobe Bryant and only Kobe Bryant?

2. Speaking of Kobe, what's the deal? The question is whether he's really worthy of his mantle as ultimate closer or if the one turnover, one lost ball out of bounds off a bad pass, one airball, one bad miss, two-tantrum performance at the end of Game 2 is the new reality. Five years since Bryant last hit a game-winner in the playoffs? Yikes.

3. Are the Lakers done? After two games, lot of basketball to be played, but the Thunder have beat the Lakers in a game where they hit everything and blew them out and a game in which OKC struggled and still won. Is this thing done?

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Ramon Sessions: Lakers want Sessions to be more aggressive
Ramon Sessions - G - LAK - May. 18 - 2:51 pm et

The Lakers want Ramon Sessions to be more aggressive, as he has only taken 10 shots over the first two games of the Lakers-Thunder series, making two of them.
While it may sound as simple as taking more shots, Sessions knows he needs to feed the Laker big men - Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol - not to mention keeping Kobe Bryant happy with the amount of shots he is accustomed to. Sessions has a very delicate balancing act ahead of him as he looks to help get the Lakers into the win column in Friday night's Game 3. May. 18 - 2:51 pm et

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Kobe Bryant Forbids Teammates from Talking to Super-Fan

Jimmy Goldstein


If you’ve watched an NBA game (or post Playoff game press conference) before, then you’ve more than likely seen Jimmy Goldstein sitting courtside with an impossibly beautiful supermodel by his side. In a story for GQ by SLAM’s very own Myles Brown, the legendary fan talks about the somewhat frosty relationship between himself and Kobe Bryant: “I have friends on every team and every team thinks I’m there to root for them. I try to put on a neutral stance as much as possible when I go to the games, with the exception of the Lakers games. The Lakers players are all aware that I root for the other team. With the exception of Kobe, they seem to take it pretty well. Every now and then Kobe surprises me by walking up to me shaking hands and giving me a nice smile. But for the most part, he ignores me. He doesn’t look at me and even went to the extent of telling Pau Gasol not to say hello to me.

[SilverBullet]

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Lakers finish strong to beat Thunder in Game 3 of series

Kobe Bryant has 36 points and the Lakers make 41 of 42 free throws in a 99-96 victory over Oklahoma City for their first win in the best-of-seven series.

Lakers taking back-to-back situation one game at a time

Mike Brown emotional and angry over Steve Blake's death threats

Bresnahan's take: This could be Pau Gasol's last week as a Laker

By Jim Peltz
May 18, 2012, 10:40 p.m.

Kobe Bryant’s clutch free throws helped the Lakers get off the floor with a win over the Oklahoma City Thunder at Staples Center on Friday night, cutting the Thunder’s series lead to 2-1 in the Western Conference best-of-seven semifinals.

Game 4 is Saturday night, also at Staples Center.

It was the Thunder’s first loss of the postseason; they had swept the Dallas Mavericks in four games in the first round.

The Thunder’s Kevin Durant attempted a three-point shot with three seconds left that would have tied the score, but it rattled out.

Bryant led the Lakers’ scoring with 36 points and he was 18 for 18 at the free-throw line, including four in the final minute of play that helped secure the win.

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Kobe leads Lakers past Thunder in 99-96 thriller

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Kobe Bryant made 18 free throws without a miss and scored 14 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter, and the Los Angeles Lakers rallied late for a 99-96 victory over Oklahoma City in Game 3 on Friday night, cutting the Thunder's second-round series lead to 2-1.

Metta World Peace swiped the ball from Kevin Durant and hit two free throws with 12.9 seconds left for the third-seeded Lakers, who shook off the memory of their late collapse in Game 2.

When Durant missed a potential tying 3-pointer before Andrew Bynum blocked Serge Ibaka's shot at the buzzer, the Lakers' frenzied crowd celebrated only their second victory in the last six playoff games.


Durant scored 31 points before missing his last shot for Oklahoma City, which could have moved to the brink of its second straight trip to the Western Conference finals. Instead, the Thunder lost for the first time in the postseason.

Game 4 in the back-to-back set is Saturday night.

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Kobe, Lakers rebound with comeback win vs. Thunder in Game 3

LOS ANGELES -- Kobe Bryant's perfection at the free-throw line was big for the desperate Lakers. His poise in the fourth quarter was even bigger, and it got Los Angeles back into its second-round series with Oklahoma City.

Bryant made 18 free throws without a miss and scored 14 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter, and the Lakers rallied late for a 99-96 victory in Game 3 on Friday night, cutting the Thunder's second-round series lead to 2-1.

Metta World Peace swiped the ball from Kevin Durant and hit two free throws with 12.9 seconds left for the third-seeded Lakers, who shook off the memory of their late collapse in Game 2. When Durant missed a potential tying 3-pointer before Andrew Bynum blocked Serge Ibaka's shot at the buzzer, the Lakers' frenzied crowd celebrated only their second victory in the last six playoff games.

Game 4 in the back-to-back set is Saturday night.

Durant scored 31 points before missing his last shot for Oklahoma City, which seemed poised to move to the brink of its second straight trip to the Western Conference finals with a five-point lead inside the final 3 minutes. Instead, the Thunder lost for the first time in the postseason, getting outscored 12-4 down the stretch.

After blowing a seven-point lead in the final 2 minutes of Game 2, Los Angeles finished Game 3 on a 6-2 run in the final 33 seconds, all on free throws. The Lakers went 41 for 42 from the line, including 26 for 27 in the second half.

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Lakers’ Pau Gasol wins award as NBA’s top citizen

By Associated Press
Friday, May 18, 2012 - Added 5 hours ago

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Pau Gasol probably would have been a doctor if he hadn’t grown up to be 7 feet tall and awfully good at basketball.

The Lakers forward sees his charity work with UNICEF and children’s hospitals as a different way to fulfill the dreams instilled in him by his medically minded Spanish family.

Gasol won the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award on Friday for his extensive charity work as a UNICEF ambassador, winning a vote by members of the Professional Basketball Writers Association.

"It’s a great honor for any player to receive," Gasol said Friday after the Lakers’ shootaround for Game 3 of their second-round playoff series against Oklahoma City. "It should be an honor for any player to have the opportunity to give back and to make the community better, be a role model to all the other kids and people. I think it’s very important when you have that opportunity, you take advantage of it. You maximize it."

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Bresnahan's take: This could be Pau Gasol's last week as a Laker

By Mike Bresnahan

May 18, 2012, 11:04 a.m.
Mike Bresnahan covers the Lakers for The Times and ties up loose ends before all their playoff games. The Lakers trail Oklahoma City, 2-0.


Don’t look for much Lakers news in the draft and free agency.

They already traded away both their picks for next month’s draft and hold only No. 60, the last selection, thanks to the Sasha Vujacic trade a couple of years ago.

Free agency? Nah. The Lakers are so far over the salary cap they’re not allowed to sign any big names. Look for another mini mid-level signing at about $3.2 million annually. The average NBA salary is about $5 million. Don’t expect much.

But there are always trades.

Pau Gasol would be the first to go. The Lakers already thought they dealt him to Houston last December. We all know how that ended.

He has two more years and $38 million on his contract. He’s a delightful No. 2 option for anybody with a tried-and-true No. 1 player.

Besides, he just won the Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award given annually to the player, coach or trainer who shows outstanding service and dedication to the community.

Good guy. But the only way I see him staying is if the Lakers go far in the playoffs. Very far.

Losing in the Western Conference semifinals isn’t real far.