THUNDER -at- LAKERS - 12/22 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Dodging Bullets... As you approach the city gates, palm fronds are scattered across the road making you pause and wonder about their purpose. It seems like an obvious trap. The kind that usually covers a pit. Your mind begins to imagine poisoned spear tips, snakes or lions, whatever is usually in one of these traps.

You decide to head for another entrance. As you near this new gate, a thought occurs to you -- the palm fronds were meant to be seen. They wanted to route you here. The moment you pause, the bullets begin to fly.

You hear their cracks as they rip through the cold night air and ricochet of the concrete rubble. You immediately cover your little friend with your body. That's when you hear the close ones. They don't make the crack noise, just a loud whizzing past you. You can almost feel them.

No point in hanging around here.

You grab her by the hand and run for the gates. At the same instant, the Horsemen show up and begin to draw fire. They charge into the fight and the shots die down. You keep running for the gates. Just as you dart past the sentries into the city a final bullet whizzes past your ear.

Damn, that was close.

You're panting with your hands on your knees and staring at a message from your buddy DB left in the dirt. Before you read it, you look over to your friend. "Kid, you're some kind of lucky." You read the message:

The Horsemen were here. A trap was set and some young guns nearly caught them off guard. They dodged bullets right and left. Death was nearly struck down. Despite several close calls, the Horsemen kept on the offensive and took the victory once again.

I will continue to track them.

Yep, the Lakers dodged bullets on their way to the 111-108 win over the Thunder.

Bullet one: Kobe Bryant buckled his knee under the boards and Laker fans everywhere held their collective breaths. It scared him and everyone in the purple and gold, but he walked it off and seemed to regain his normal stride and effectiveness.

"That had shades of Karl Malone," Phil said of the potential Kobe injury. Karl got his knee body slammed, but the result was a long injury -- one that ultimately did in the Lakers in the Finals.

Bullet two: Russell Westbrook nearly tied the game up with a three that went in and out. The Lakers were getting torched, giving up 11 points to him down the stretch. He finally missed a shot, trying to hit a three over Artest instead of the midrange jumpers over DFish.

It was a perfect trap game -- facing an energetic team that the Lakers have had their way with; this as their first opponent back from the road trip; a big Christmas day match-up with LeBron and Shaq on the horizon. The result: The Lakers fell behind by as many as 12 in the first half, while giving up 61 points.

Describing his team's defense, Phil said, "Late. We were late."

They throttled it up in the third quarter on both ends, dominating the quarter 34-21. Clutch freethrows by Kobe and DFish in crunch time helped the Lakers keep the Thunder from coming away with a victory.

Now, they can think about the anticipated showdown with LeBron and Shaq on Christmas say. Should be a battle.


Kobe -- -- "I was scared. I did a lot of work on my flexibility, so I was able to bounce back but it was still scary," Kobe said right after the game was over. He immediately grabbed his knee when it buckled under the offensive basket while coming after flipping a shot up over his head. He stayed on the ground for a while, but walked it off. He gestured like "that was a close one" as he wiped the sweat off his brow after a timeout. Indeed. A very well-rounded, 40-point game from Kobe. In the second half, he was picking apart the Thunder defense and setting up Bynum for most of his scores. When he's in attack mode and both scoring and getting teammates easy looks, that is hard to defend. Kobe also got to the line throughout. It will be taken for granted, of course, but down the stretch his FT shooting was money. Body language from the line on a few freethrows tonight, but he got them to drop again and again in crunch time. We don't win the game without that. The Stats: He scored 40 points on 14-26 shooting (0-3 from three, 12-14 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 6 assists, 2 steals, 5 turnovers and 5 fouls in 43:46. He was a +5. The Action: He swished a pull-up at the freethrow line to start the Laker scoring. Quick change of pace in transition and he slipped past his man for a layup. He threw a backdoor pass out of bounds. Horrible pass in the Tri to the FT line, easily picked off. He attacked off the three line and hit a baseline And-1 over Collison, he made the FT. He hit a turnaround from the wing off a post up. He missed a three in transition. He attacked down the lane and swished a floater at the end of the first quarter. He had 11 points on 5-8 shooting. He missed a wing three. He sank an easy wing turnaround over Westbrook. He sank another jumper from the other side right over Westbrook. He missed his next wing jumper. He crossed over at the top of the key, attacked and hit the lefty And-1 at the front of the rim, he made the FT. He missed a fallaway. He missed a reverse, but Pau cleaned it up. He threw a pass away trying to drive at the end of the half. He had 7 points on 3-7 shooting in the second quarter. Second Half: He pushed out a rebound, got low position and hit a fallaway in the lane. He set up Drew off the screen-roll for a dunk. He attacked and kicked to Fish for three. He attacked and lobbed to Bynum for FTs. He missed a tech FT. He drained an elbow jumper. He took the Fish pass on the break and scored the And-1 off the glass, he made the FT. He lobbed to Bynum off the screen-roll for the throwdown. He missed a pull-up jumper. He set Pau up for FTs with the high entry. He swished an elbow fallaway, flashing weak to strong. He missed a three left open a step behind the line. He scored a layup after spinning to get open on an inbounds pass. He had 11 points on 5-7 shooting in the third. He shook Durant and drew FTs at the rim, he made one. He tried to create against a wall of defenders, lost it and then fouled. He reached around on Durant to poke a ball loose and it led to a Brown breakaway. He drew a foul on Durant out of a timeout smothering him on D and getting run over. He missed a wing fallaway, short. He picked up his fourth foul on a Durant swing through (actually, that looked like a bad call). He took the post feed, checked off his options and then skip passed to Ron for an open three on the weakside. He had Collison on a mismatch, it was quickly exploited for a dunk as he blew past him. He missed a shot, got back in the battle on the boards with Pau, grabbed it, threw up a shot and buckled his knee on the landing while drawing FTs, he made both. He attacked, drew contact while hanging and missed, no call. He took an elbow to face while reaching (he picked up his fifth foul with 3:55 left). He attacked to his right and drew FTs on the baseline jumper, he made both. He threw a pass out of bounds trying to hit Pau, not even close. Durant fouled out when he and Kobe battled for a defensive rebound, Kobe made both FTs. He was fouled intentionally at midcourt with 19 seconds left, he made both FTs.

Gasol -- -- "He's been pursuing rebounds better," Phil said prior to the game. "This has been my one issue to Pau is that you must pursue rebounds. You must go get them. Don't let them come to you." Phil has been on Pau since his first season. He challenged Pau to get more offensive boards last season and Pau came through. He seems to be cracking that whip on him to dominate the glass on both ends this season. Pau has been battling and coming up big. Pau once again logged a double-double and the team continues to get wins since his return. He's not the type of player to reject shots out of bounds and have a presence under the hoop, but his length and agility allows him to get to shots and be very disruptive. He had a season-high 6 blocks tonight. Pau is looking automatic from the line. Not sure if this is something he's worked on, but it looks like it. He's currently 5th in the NBA, shooting .889 from the line. With Pau's added FT shooting and Ron's improvement, the team has worked its way up to 11th in the league from the line (.766). The Thunder are second (.805). The Stats: He scored 15 points on 5-10 shooting (5-6 from the line) to go with 11 boards (5 offensive), 1 assist, 6 blocks, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 37:45. He was a +3. The Action: He grabbed a Bynum miss and powered it in. He missed an elbow jumper. He missed a short jumphook. He scored a layup off the high entry from Ron. He missed a jumphook. He kept a rebound alive to Bynum, got the return pass and scored a layup. He drew FTs when Fish set him up, he made both. He blocked Westbrook. He cleaned up a Kobe reverse. Soft finish and he was swatted. He forced Durant into an airball on help. He had 10 points on 4-8 shooting and 3 boards. Second Half: He got a missed FT by Ron and it led to a Fisher three. He drew FTs off the two-man game with Kobe, he made one. A rare post up and he hit the short jumphook. He was whistled for an over-the-back foul, erasing a two-for-one possession. Collison returned the favor by plowing down Pau on the defensive glass for FTs with 1.7 left, he made both. He had 7 boards in the third. He threw a pass where Lamar had been a second before, turnover. He gave up a dunk when his man cut on him out of a timeout. He was called for a hook (looked like he had his man beat and didn't need to do it) with 36 seconds left up by three.

Bynum -- -- In the first quarter, Bynum couldn't buy a hoop. He was too soft around the rim and blew a few. "I missed a bunch of bunnies and it makes a different game," Bynum said afterward. In the second half, the team set him up for some dunks off the two-man sequences. Kobe used him well when drawing a crowd. After a poor offensive first half, but a good rebounding one, Bynum didn't get a board in the second half. Go figure. Phil commented about Pau pursuing rebounds above. Asked if he said the same thing to Bynum, Phil sighed. "I have said the same thing to Andrew many times," he said. Some nice D by Bynum to anchor the paint at times. He was looking pretty quick off the floor and had a number of swats on dribble penetration. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 3-9 shooting (5-7 from the line) to go with 7 boards (3 offensive), 2 assists, 1 steal, 4 blocks and 4 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He tried to power up in a crowd, missed but Pau cleaned it up. He choked a point-blank layup, not dunking and missed his follow tip. He back-rimmed a short jumphook. He grabbed the Pau miss and drew a foul, he made both FTs. He hit Pau with an interior feed for a layup. He couldn't finish a lob dunk from Pau. Ugly stint, not finishing a thing as he went 0-5 (he did have 5 boards). He drew FTs on a jumphook, he made both. He rejected Durant out of bounds. He swatted Durant and controlled it. He swatted another shot a few seconds later. He had 4 points on 0-5 shooting and 7 boards. Second Half: He threw down with both hands off the Kobe bounce pass. He was hacked on a lob from Kobe for FTs, he made one. He dunked off the screen-roll lob from Kobe. He had 5 points and no boards in the third. He bricked a turnaround on iso. He took a high entry from Kobe, gathered himself and dunked an And-1, he missed the FT.

Artest -- -- After Westbrook was lighting up Fish, the Lakers had a series of switches on the final shot and it ended up with Ron on Westbrook. Thankfully, the three went in and out. I must say I felt a lot better about seeing Ron on Westbrook than DFish for that final shot. We weren't getting any stops until that miss. Phil said the Thunder changed up how they were working Durant offensively after Ron locked him down in the previous games. Durant also had a lot more offensive sequences against other defenders, as well, as the Thunder changed up lineups and Ron had some foul issues early on, too. Durant dropped 30 on 11-19 shooting, but also fouled out in crunch time. Some good work on the offensive glass by Ron. He was causing all kind of trouble off the ball in the paint. On the ball, a few ugly sequences. Still, Ron led the team with a +8 and good numbers across the board. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-10 shooting (2-2 from three, 0-2 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 39 minutes. The Action: He threw the ball up near the rim for Pau for a score. He traveled on the break trying to fill the lane. He swiped the ball on the perimeter, pushed it up and missed the layup (Fish got it). He drew a moving pick off the Krstic screen. His post entry pass was deflected, he got it back and charged over a man. He had to sit after 6 minutes with his second foul. He sealed Thabo in the paint, took the post entry and scored a layup. He was blocked by a crowd in the paint, layup the other way. He attacked from the elbow for a layup with his left. He choked a flat-footed layup after an offensive board bounced right to him. Durant had 13 points on 5-12 shooting. Second Half: He grabbed a Fish miss and scored the layup. He sank a wing three coming off the screen. He passed up a three to throw an odd fading fling a little closer in (miss and breakaway for the Thunder). He crashed the glass and drew FTs off the miss by DFish, he missed both. He hit Kobe for an elbow jumper. He fell, stood up and clanked a jumper. He swished an open wing three off the Kobe skip pass.

Fisher -- -- Westbrook had his way with DFish, causing all kinds of trouble. Late in the game, he was the go-to guy for several crunch-time scores. Westbrook's midrange game was automatic whenever the Thunder needed anything. Thankfully, that last attempt of his beyond the arc didn't go down when Fish switched off him as we were protecting the three line on the final defensive stand. Fish had to go to the line with 14.9 left and a 1-point lead, he made both clutch ones. If he only makes one FT there, Westbrook can move in for that midrange instead of the three on the other end...and we're probably looking at overtime (or a Kobe game-winner). DFish hit some big threes in this one, Ron, too. There were a couple Artest/Fisher breakaways early on, not the prettiest break you will see, that's for sure. That's the scariest duo we've got in those situations. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 4-9 shooting (3-5 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 1 board, 4 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 32:20. He was a +3. The Action: He followed Ron's one man break, grabbed the miss and drew FTs. He faked a timeout and set up Pau for FTs, Phil seemed amused. He couldn't finish a layup on the break. Next break a few seconds later and he hit a sideline three. He sank a wing three from the left side. He missed a long three at the first half buzzer. Second Half: He crossed-over and missed a long jumper. He missed a floater, but Ron got it. He swished a corner three. Poor pass in transition and the Thunder had Fish scrambling in transition D the other way. He missed a corner three, looked fouled. He crowded Westbook 40 feet from the basket and gave him a straight line to the hoop to set up a dunk. He drained a wing three on the other end. He deflected a pass off Green. He tried to dish to Pau, steal and dunk the other way. Pull-up jumpers for Westbrook down the stretch. Westbrook blew past him for a layup out of a timeout. Westbrook another easy jumper. He was fouled on the inbounds with 14.9 left and a 1-point lead, he made both.

Lamar -- -- "Lamar had his moments and then had his dis-moments," Phil said afterward. As awkwardly as that sounds, it probably describes Lamar's game the best. LO was sleepwalking off the bench in his first stint again. He threw a couple passes away, missed a couple layups, airballed a three. Just a negative force off the bench instead of bringing intelligent effort. His second stint was better. In the second half, he looked more active, but the game sure seemed to teeter on Lamar's performance. A trap game like this is sure-fire recipe for Lamar trouble. Offensively, the Thunder were sagging off him a ton and it started to bog things down in the final possessions. LO chucked from beyond the arc all game. Thankfully, he hit a couple. He missed a corner three that probably would have iced the game with a minute left. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 3-11 shooting (2-6 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 1 steal, 4 turnovers and 1 foul in 29:22. He was a +1. The Action: He airballed a wing three on his first attempt. He missed a running layup next time down. He drew FTs cutting off the Pau post, he made both. Horrible post entry right to the fronting man. He choked a point-blank layup not finishing strong, uggh. Another stolen post entry pass, Phil gave him the hook. Back in, he quickly sank a sideline three on his first touch. He grabbed a Kobe miss, worked his man and hit a jumphook. He missed a short one in the paint on iso. Second Half: He had a foot in the paint setting up, then stood there with the ball for a three second call (just poor awareness). He was swatted driving right on the next possession (compounding mistakes). He attacked in transition taking contact and earning FTs, he made both. He missed a wing three. He swished a big three from the top of the arc with under 4 minutes left. His high-low pass to Pau was picked off. He missed a corner three with a minute left.

Brown -- -- When DFish was getting torched in closing time, Phil didn't go to Shannon defensively. DFish is the battle-tested closer, and Shannon hasn't won that trust yet. They could have used a different look defensively, for sure. The team was getting lit like a Christmas tree, but Phil probably isn't sure if Shannon is going to come down court and hoist and early offense jumper or some other shot. Earlier in the fourth, Shannon had a quick attempt from three immediately on the heels of a Farmar missed three in the previous possession. Those kinds of back-to-back sequences are why bench players stay bench players. Again, poise and floor smarts are what Shannon likely needs to work on to gain Phil's trust. The team could have used him on the D end down the stretch. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-3 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 12:20. He was a -3. The Action: He attacked in early offense and drew FTs, he made both. He swished a wing pull-up jumper next time down. Then, he got crossed over for a layup on the other end. Second Half: He bricked an early offense three (this was after that miss by Farmar as mentioned). He scooped up a loose ball that Kobe poked free, pushed it out and scored a layup.

Farmar -- -- He was non-existent in his first stint. Nearly mirrored that in his second one. No impact from Farmar in this game. Phil ran a little more Shannon who seemed more active on both ends. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-2 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 1 board in 10:31. He was a +1. The Action: Nothing to report. Second Half: He tried to take a two-for-one jumper, Pau ruined it by getting an over-the-back call and FTs (instant two-for-one the other way). He got totally tapped on a three.

Vujacic -- -- Ron had to sit with foul issues in the first quarter, so Phil dusted off Sasha early to slide Kobe at SF. He managed to pick up a key foul on Durant early on. That was about it. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-1 shooting, had 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 6 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He stepped in front of Durant on the break to draw his second foul and send him to the bench. He bricked a corner three badly on his first attempt. Second Half: Nothing to report.

Phil -- : -- Lakers were missing a lot of chippies to start the game. The Lakers still led 14-12 midway through the first... Artest picked up a charge and had to sit. Phil went to Sasha at SG and Kobe as SF... The Lakers trailed 30-25 after the first. The Thunder shot 52 percent, the Lakers 35 percent... Phil ran a Bynum, Lamar, Artest, Brown, Farmar unit. They quickly trailed by 10 after 3 minutes. (That was later extended to 12)... Late in the second quarter, Lamar came back off the bench and had 5 points to go with a Kobe And-1 and they cut the lead to 4 on the 8-0 run that forced a timeout... The Lakers trailed 61-54 at the half. The Thunder shot 47 percent (24-51), the Lakers shot 42 percent (19-45). The Lakers were 14-14 from the line, the Thunder 9-9. The Thunder had a 24-20 points-in-the-paint advantage... "We have to mee their energy. We have to execute better," Cleamons said... Lakers started the half with a 6-0 run forcing a quick Thunder timeout. The Lakers tied it up shortly later... L.A. missed 4-5 FTs to start the second half. (First it was the layups, now it's the FTs)... The Lakers, better on both ends, won the third quarter 34-21 to take an 88-82 lead into the fourth... Phil started a Bynum, Lamar, Kobe, Brown, Farmar unit. They played even for the first 3 minutes... Phil then swapped Brown for Artest... They increased their lead, but it was cut in half (a lot of FTs for the Thunder)... Kobe from the line down the stretch (9-10 FTs in the fourth for him)... Both teams had 20 points in the paint in the second half... The Lakers shot 44.4 percent, the Thunder 45.1 percent. The Lakers made 32-39 from the line. The Thunder, 20-24... Last time these teams met the Thunder had a block party. Tonight, the Lakers had 11 blocks to their 4...

Game Flow -- LINK -- After trailing by as many as 12, the Lakers restored order in the third. Kobe scored 11 points in three different quarters. Westbrook had 11 points in his final 7:40.

[Ray_Gonzoles]

Thanks again for the recaps DB!

Lakers looked sluggish thru 3 quarters, then started to pull away, only to make it interesting the last few minutes.
Maybe the road trip and flight delays had something to do with it.
Hope Kobe takes care of that knee so it does not become an issue. Now on to Christmas Day and Cleveland.
_________________
"Just show up ready to work, ready to play, Have your big boy pants on, leave your diaper at home." Kobe Bryant
Anything less than a championship is a failure. Period.

[IPK]

2nd?


Thanks DB. You da man!
_________________
Our tribute to Phil, the man behind LG

[Tanlentueux]

thank you !!!

[LakerSince72]

This nail biter of a game will serve as a timely kick in the pants for the Lakers just before facing LeBron and The Big Dissapointment on Christmas. May God and Baby Jesus help us to have Shanwow baptize *anyone* on the Cavs like Trevor anointed Grant Hill on Christmas past. MERRY CHRISTMAS MUTHA$&#%!

BIG UPS TO DB AND THE ENTIRE LG CREW!!

4th
_________________
I <3 Basketball!

[tw-lakbfan]

As bad as the game was played, we usually managed to win against average teams. Need more focus and efforts to beat the elite teams.

[Discoflux]

I'm really proud of this Lakers win. The game was a hard fought contest with many factors setting the table for a Lakers letdown.

My biggest thought during the game was that if this was LAST year's lakers they would find a way to lose this game and just brush it off. Not this year's team. The guys stayed with the game even though it was not the scintillating Lakers domination we're all getting used to seeing. Great job earning that W.

OKC looks good. They didn't miss one shot and have a lot of talent working together over there.

[8750]

Thanks, DB
it's scary finding yourself to think that sometimes a little, insignificant gesture can have big consequences... a meaningless offensive rebound and the ring there waiting for us was suddendly a mirage... brrrr...

[andyhuang]

Thanks DB...

Kobe, i just worried about him...

God bless no injury....

[hoopschick29]

I think during Christmas Week, home teams are vulnerable. Life doesn't stop because you're a pro athlete. And during the holidays, you gotta buy gifts and take care of business like anyone else. When you're on the road, you're on the road. Those kinda distractions aren't there so it allows for easier focus.
_________________
So glad we gave you your flowers while you were here, Kobe.

[limchrc]

thanks

[RVCdesigns]

Thanks DB

[RCS926]

Our bench really needs to pick things up. Lamar's play was downright disgusting at times last night. He needs to be a leader on that 2nd unit.

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

[Wolverine]

Great start to the season so far. If we can win two out of our next three games I'll be thrilled!

[A Mad Chinaman]

It will be interesting to see if the 2nd team will develop a fast-growing maturity to not lose leads