LAKERS -at- THUNDER - 11/3 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

The Grind of Survival... You're told it's a short trip down the river, but a dark, bluish-gray cloud base awaits, thunder crackling, lightning flashing in anticipation of your arrival. You pass more abandoned camps on the riverbanks. Death clings to these barren patches of lost civilization like leaves on the trees. And like leaves, life here seemingly held on as long as it could until it withered and fell from dead branches.

The boat pulls up to one of these camps, this one occupied by just children. The kids scatter into the dense vegetation as soon as you step onto the bank. Immediately, you see the signs of the Horsemen. Tru Warier was here, so was Death. There is no savagery, just a sickness and the wear and tear, the grind, of primitive survival.

The Horsemen left the camp intact, but took what they needed from these kids -- survival in the post apocalypse can be impersonal like that. Before you can investigate further, thunder rips in the distance one last time and the rain begins to pour.

With a thud, a spear impales the side of your boat. You hit the dirt, falling right on a conch shell. Damn, kids. A piece of purple paper pokes out from the shell's side. As if you're pulling a fortune from a cookie, you slip out the note and slide back into the boat. The note is from DancingBarry:

The Horsemen were here. With the sickness of Death lurking all night, they had some trouble with these kids. They survived, but just barely. Tru Warier unleashed his fiercest attack since joining the Horsemen. It wasn't settled until late into the evening, but it was, eventually, settled.

Better get some sleep. Tomorrow's almost here. I will continue to track them.

Sometimes you have to grind them out. Kobe Bryant knows this. Sore throat, fever and sluggish all day, why not play an overtime game on the road? Maybe even follow that up with a game tomorrow.

After a quick start and a 32-point first quarter, the Lakers would score 20, 19 and 19 in the next three quarters. They slugged their way to overtime and used a team effort to close the deal 101-98 over the spirited Thunder.

They played some turnover-prone ball, which the Thunder capitalized on. After 9 turnovers in the third, the Lakers trailed going into the fourth with Kobe on the bench and Pau still not suited up. They put the ball in Ron Artest's hands and let him go to work. He manufactured points at the line, hit jumpers, played tough D and kept the Lakers second unit from being sunk. He had 11 points on 3-4 shooting and 2 steals in the fourth.

Better believe the Lakers needed every one of those. In fact, the only other Laker to scratch in the fourth quarter was Kobe who scored 8.

The stat boxes and game reports will highlight Kobe's 31 points, but Artest's 20 points and 5 steals were equally as important. His points came at a critical juncture. Not to be overshadowed was Andrew Bynum's double-double (22 and 11), but it was his defensive challenges in overtime that helped lock down on serveral key defensive stands. He wasn't credited with a block, but he altered multiple shots.

The Lakers grinded this one out and will need to do the same tomorrow when Artest returns to his former team.


Kobe -- -- Ain't no love in Oklahoma City. He missed shootaround, stayed in bed and said he started walking around about mid day. Then he had to go out and play an overtime game with some very inconsistent officiating. Asked if he has enough in the tank for tomorrow, Kobe said, "I better." The team started to rely on him too much down the stretch, but it was good to see them loosen up a little to start the OT. Still, as soon as the pressure was on, it was get the ball back to Kobe. All game, Kobe tried to work the post against Thabo Sefolosha, who was continually trying to deny him the ball. When he got it there, he was usually deadly. Some great footwork and some tough shot making when Thabo stayed with him. Kobe had a ton of turnovers tonight. That was a mix of offensive fouls trying to free up in the post, some calls that didn't come that should have, and some bad decisions on the dribble. He gets the whistle his way on those and he probably has only a couple turnovers. The Stats: He scored 31 points on 9-22 shooting (1-3 from three, 12-14 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 4 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 7 turnovers and 5 fouls in 45:41 of action. He was a +5. The Action: He cut fast off the Artest post, took the pass and drew FTs, he made both. He was hit on the arm on a jumper and airballed. He pushed it up, drew a crowd and lobbed to Bynum for the dunk. He swished a baseline fallaway. He lost a dribble in the lane. He zipped a pass under the hoop to LO for the layup. He was fouled on a turnaround from the midpost, he made one FT. He crossed over, blew past Thabo and hit a floater with his left (he made that look a lot easier than it was). He sank a wing three behind the screens. He was hit on an elbow jumper and made both FTs. He missed a long turnaround. He tried to dribble through a crowd, lost it, dunk the other way. He missed a leaner next time down. He fought for an offensive board and hit the one-hander. He cut baseline, took the post feed, drew the D and dumped it to Bynum for the slam. He busted out, took it to the rim and missed, but Drew cleaned it up easily. He swatted Thabo at the rim. He worked patiently off the Bynum screen and then hit Drew on the roll for the dunk. He was stripped on the drive, had some words for the ref and then was immediately given on offensive foul posting up on his next touch. He attacked at the end of the half and was blocked. He was ticked at the refs going into the half with 14 points on 4-9 shooting and 4 assists. Second Half: He faked a turnaround, pivoted the other way to completely lose Thabo and he banked a short one. Bad position and he gave up a putback on the offensive board. He missed a runner. He missed in the lane looking for a whistle that never came. He attacked baseline and finally drew some FTs on a reverse, he made both. He took the post feed and quickly spun to draw FTs, he made one. He missed a good look from the baseline. He ran square into Harden on the break and went down hard, charge. He swiped a baseline pass. On the other end, he posted up Thabo and hit an easy jumper in the lane. He missed a wing three. He missed a long wing jumper. He worked the high post, lost Thabo with a step-through and scored the one-hander. Out of a timeout, he iso'd, attacked baseline and drew FTs, he made both. He missed a tough, spinning chuck from 20 feet trying to beat the shotclock. He gave up a layup on the other end. He posted up and hit a baseline turnaround with 1:30 left. He was stripped and airballed a three attempt trying to beat the shotclock. Overtime: He sank a turnaround from the midpost. Wow, he was hammered to the ground off a spin move and they called the ball off him, horrible non-call (then the refs call Fish on a touch foul 35 feet from the hoop, weird). He was then called for an offensive foul trying to post up on his next possession (very weak). He missed a 21-footer. He was fouled with 18 seconds left up by one, he made both.

Bynum -- -- Big Drew came up big in overtime with some excellent challenges. Whenever the Lakers needed a stop, he seemed to be the guy in the mix causing it in overtime. Very nice to see Bynum impose himself on that part of the floor. "His help defense was better tonight," Phil said. Two-way impact ballers are why teams succeed in the playoffs. The more he develops into, the deadlier this team becomes. Offensively, they were looking for him early and often. The touches started to slow down a bit. Down the stretch, we really missed Pau in the mix. Normally, we run the two-man sequences as our go-to plays. We don't trust Bynum the same way in those situations. The offense seemed to stagnate a bit in crunch time. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 10-15 shooting (2-4 from the line) to go with 10 boards (3 offensive), 3 assists, 3 steals, no blocks (not true), 4 turnovers and 5 fouls in 48:42 of action. He was a +9. The Action: He backed down Krstic and hit the short jumphook on his first touch. He threw down the lob from Kobe in semi-transition. He powered up the high entry from Fish for a score. He called for the lob, LO threw it as Bynum spun and he slammed. Soft finish attempt and he was blocked. He was whistled for an offensive foul trying to set up early. Good job running the floor, but he was blocked from behind. He gave up a putback not boxing out. He backed Thomas underneath the hoop and scored a layup off the dropstep (very nice power move). He attacked and kicked to Powell for the open jumper. He dunked when Kobe up-faked to lose his defender and draw Bynum's man. Great job running the floor to clean up a Kobe missed layup on a breakaway (that was hustle). He came up with a steal after trapping in the corner. He dunked, stretching out off the screen-roll with Kobe. He had 16 points on 8-10 shooting and 4 boards. Second Half: He drew FTs posting up his man, he made both. He swiped an entry pass. He was blindsided for a steal (didn't let Westbrook finish clearing out). He swished a jumphook off the right block. He was ticked at a no call under the hoop (he was obviously hit on the arm). He was blocked, quickly got it back and missed a jumper just beating the shotclock (we got it back). He was called for an offensive foul trying to get set for the post feed. He kept the ball up high on the two-man game with Fish and drew FTs, he rattled out both of 'em, however. Overtime: He hit a jumphook over Thomas on our first OT possession. He denied Durant's drive and controlled it. He switched on Durant and blocked his shot, big stop. Another good challenge on Westbrook's heave from three with a few seconds left.

Lamar -- -- He had a chance to ice the game from the freethrow line and gripped it big time. He missed the first, airballed the second with 10 seconds left. "There's no excuse for that," Lamar said. "I mean it has to touch the rim on the freethrow line." On the other side, he did swish a big three in that overtime. Lamar said they were playing off him in the corner in order to help deny Kobe his post touches. That was a big make...but dang, LO, airball? Really? I'm going to be nervous next time he's there with the game on the line. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 6-11 shooting (1-1 from three, 0-2 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 4 turnovers and 4 fouls in 43 minutes. The Action: He saved an airball to Artest for a three. He saw Bynum call for the lob and hit him spinning for the dunk. He threw an outlet away. He spotted up beneath the hoop and Kobe hit him for the layup. He attacked with speed around the handoff and scored a layup. He hit a jumphook on the inbounds feed. He was stripped on a drive. He missed a wing jumper off the pinch post. He bricked a layup on the leak out. Second Half: He swished a jumper with his toe on the three line. He posted up and scored easily at the front of the rim (more please). He swiped a pass, pushed it up to Ron and Artest drew FTs. He missed a runner in transition and wanted the foul. He was called for a clear-out trying to finish a layup. Nice D on Westbrook on a switch to force a bricked drive. He was blocked off the backboard, possible goaltend, with a minute left. His inbounds pass was picked off with 2.7 seconds left. Overtime: He swished a quick-fire, catch-and-shoot three from the sideline, swish. He hit the side of the glass on a drive on the next possession. He was fouled with 10 seconds left up by 3, he missed the first and airballed the second (mental breakdown, wow).

Artest -- -- This game was about to get out of hand. In the fourth quarter, the Lakers trailed by 5 points. Ron kept them in it, creating off the dribble and hitting jumpers. He was also forcing turnovers on the defensive end. With Kobe resting during that first part of the fourth, the Lakers needed someone to step up and Artest did. We probably don't win this without that stretch of ball from him. I've speculated that I thought Ron would probably shoot better when he got out on the road. He has just put so much pressure on himself at Staples. He needs these few road games right now (although Houston will probably be another where he feels some pressure). Defensively, he matched up against Durant. He did a lot of crowding and reaching. Durant's length was sometimes tough to defend, but he seemed to have most of his success in scramble type of situations, when our halfcourt D was switching or wasn't set. As the game went along, Ron seemed to lock in more, and when the Thunder needed something from Durant in crunch time, Artest or the help D was all over him. Ron ended up leading the Lakers in steals and Durant had 7 turnovers despite the 28 points on 10-24 shooting (0-8 from three). The Stats: He scored 20 points on 6-8 shooting (2-3 from three, 6-8 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 6 assists, 5 steals, 4 turnovers and 2 fouls in 47 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: First possession, he posted up and fed Kobe cutting for FTs. He sank a wing three when Lamar saved a ball to him. He attacked baseline, drew the D and hit Fish for a wide open three. He stripped his man from behind to save a layup. He got caught with his hand in the cookie jar on a Durant swing through and gave up FTs. He threw a pass away, points the other way. He sank a wing jumper standing on the three line. Second Half: He swished a wing jumper off the pinch post. He was fouled in transition and made both FTs. He lost the handle on a baseline drive. He was called for an offensive foul when his knee hit Krstic on a drive, weak call. Looked like his layup was goaltended. He threw a pass away trying to hit Bynum (Phil went to Luke after that). He missed a corner jumper. He attacked, reversed directions with a behind-the-back dribble and drew FTs, he made one. He created off a screen next time down and hit the wing jumper. He drained a wing three going to his right. He created off the dribble, attacked right and drew FTs, he made both. He stripped Durant from behind. He drew FTs trying to throw down on the break, he made one. He swiped the ball again, got out on the break and finished a layup over Green. He forced Durant to throw the ball away on a catch and shoot. He gambled and gave up penetration, it led to a three. Overtime: No shots in overtime, just hounded Durant as much as he could.

Fisher -- -- Westbrook was torching him for easy dribble penetration early on. Late in the game, however, you could see Westbrook trying to probe and then backing off it as DFish's defense tightened up. Westbrook then stopped looking to take it to Fish. On one iso moment, Fish blocked his shot playing our strongside zone perfectly with his bigman. Nice defensive adjustments by Fish and the team to take that away when it could have been a lot of trouble. Offensively, Fish was hitting his shots and even finished a layup at full speed. Like others, he had some sloppy passing. The Thunder were quick to track down slow developing passes. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-6 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 4 turnovers and 4 fouls in 35 minutes. He was a +16. The Action: He attacked baseline and lobbed it to Bynum for a score. He sank an open corner three on the Artest kickout. He missed a long three trying to beat the shotclock. He swiped a ball, pushed it up and somehow scored a layup in a crowd. He picked up a loose ball and hit the baseline jumper. Second Half: He missed a wing jumper. Weak cross-court pass and it was easily picked off. Sloppy pass trying to find Bynum when his man zoned up, and the pass went out of bounds. He somehow stopped a 3-on-1 break (he plays those so well). His outlet was picked off by Green. Great help D in the middle of the lane to knock a ball loose. Overtime: He sank a wing jumper off the pinch post. He tried to pass to Bynum after diving for a loose ball, Drew was trying to call for a timeout, turnover. He blocked Westbrook's jumper on our strongside zone, played that perfectly.

Luke -- -- Not much from Luke in this game. Phil tried to avoid the Walton/Durant match up, giving Ron some extended run and even Kobe briefly against Durant. When Luke was on Durant, it was sketchy, for sure. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-2 shooting to go with 1 board, 1 assist and 2 fouls in 6 minutes. The Action: He missed an early offense chuck on a turnaround step-back, not sure why he took that. He biffed a 3-footer off the Kobe no-looker. Second Half: Nothing to report. Overtime: Did not play.

Brown -- -- The only notes I have where Shannon stood out in this game are on the negative side of things. Shannon had the team-low -8 in his brief time out there (while Fish had the team-high +15). Those numbers are more reflective of Brown running with the bench versus Fish running with the starters. But Shannon didn't have much impact on this one. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-1 shooting from three to go with 2 boards, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 10 minutes. The Action: He got benched after getting caught reaching on a Durant swing-through move. Second Half: He fumbled a dribble out of bounds, unforced error. He missed a 30-footer at the third quarter buzzer. Overtime: He did not play.

Vujacic -- -- It looks like we are trying to set him up at least once a game on that double-screen sequence. The second unit can used more of those scripted sequences to help them play to their strengths. Not a lot of action for Sasha in this game despite Kobe's illness. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-2 shooting to go with 1 board in 7 minutes. The Action: He sank a baseline jumper coming off the screens on an inbounds pass. He forced up a quick 18-footer and missed. Nice save of a loose ball to Farmar. Second Half: Nothing to report. Overtime: Did not play.

Farmar -- -- Phil bottled up Farmar's possible contributions tonight with low minutes, but we may see more of him tomorrow against the speedy Brooks. Farmar had a good series against them last year. Phil will probably trust him more because of it. Brown was the first guard off the bench in the second half. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-1 shooting from three to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 8 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He was called for a weak touch foul on the perimeter. He missed a three from the top of the key, should have moved in closer after his man closed. Horrible screen-roll pass and it was easily picked off. Second Half: Nothing to report. Overtime: He did not play.

Powell -- -- His jumper continues to look like money, even out to three-point range. The team is trying to set him up for those shots. The second unit needs to script some plays just for him the way he's going right now. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-5 shooting and had no fouls in 12:34 of action. He was a -6. The Action: He served up his an easy one to get swatted under the hoop. He sank the baseline jumper off the Bynum kickout. Second Half: He swished a 22-footer from the wing. He missed a baseline jumper. He was blocked on a layup. Overtime: He did not play.

Mbenga -- -- Against a smaller front court, Phil decided to go with more Powell and a whole lot of Bynum. Just some spot duty for Mbenga and he didn't manage to tally a shot attempt in that brief time. The Stats: He didn't score or shoot and had 1 foul in 1:42 of action. The Action: Nothing to report. Second Half: Nothing to report. Overtime: He did not play.


Phil -- -- The Lakers hit shots at a high clip to start the game, leading 13-2. Bynum was getting easy looks and Kobe doing his thing. The offense was clicking in the first quarter, but would grind it out the rest of the game. The Lakers led 32-25 after one... The Lakers lost their lead with 4 minutes left in the half. The Thunder weren't called for a foul a that point of the quarter (The Lakers would later be called for no defensive whistles for a similar stretch in the fourth quarter)... The Lakers pulled out to a 9-point lead, but had it erased with turnovers and poor D in the second quarter... The Lakers led 52-51 at the half. The Lakers shot 59.5 percent, the Thunder 42.9 percent. Durant had 20 points. The Lakers gave up 19 points off turnovers... The coaches tried to stress that at halftime, but it didn't take... The Lakers went dry for several minutes in the middle of the third quarter until they got the ball to Drew... Phil sat Artest and Fisher earlier than usual. They both had turnovers in the halfcourt offense that ticked him off, but Phil would bring back Artest to lead the second unit... The Lakers trailed 73-71 going into the fourth. The coaches had stressed the turnover issue at halftime, but 9 more turnovers in the third hurt the cause... Phil started a Bynum, Powell, Artest, Sasha, Brown lineup... The team ran offense through Artest with success... Too much clock running late in the game trying to get set up in the offensive sets and it resulted in a lot of late shotclock sequences... With 2.7 second left and a tie ball game, Phil called a timeout. It looked like LO had Kobe open, but his pass was deflected... After forcing the ball through Kobe in regulation, Bynum, Fisher and LO scored the Lakers first three baskets of OT... The Lakers shot 52 percent, the Thunder 43 percent. The Lakers got out-rebounded 13-7 on the offensive glass... The Lakers had 26 turnovers, the Thunder 21...

Game Flow -- LINK -- Not a lot of runs in this game, a couple key ones in the fourth. Only Kobe and Ron scored in the fourth for the Lakers.

[uberzev]

FIRST!

THANKS DB!
_________________
Lakers Gonna Lake

[George W Buss]

[Ray_Gonzoles]

Thanks again for the recaps DB!

The Lakers looked like they were sleepwalking throughout this game. The inconsistant calls by the refs didn't help the gameflow at all. But a win is a win, even in overtime.
On to Houston.
_________________
"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.

[lakergreenmachine]

Thanks DB! Great as always, here's to a win in Houston!
_________________
"Moment of Silence For the Champions."

[lounger]

As always, thanks DB!

[NoobyBrown]

thank u DB only 79 more to go
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Yes I freakin hate Kwame Brown with a passion! Stu Lanz @ Shannon Brown Dunk vs Suns 11/12/09 "That is absolutely illegal, you shouldn't be able to do that... unless you are able to do that... and he is."

[Texas_Pete]

Thanks DB!

Lakers are doing really well considering our 2nd best player hasn't played one regular season minute yet. I'm cool with other teams getting a little hype because we dropped a game. But let's see Boston without Pierce or SA without TP or Cleveland without Mo Williams - I can go on and on. We are being tested early without Pau out there and are winning at a 75% clip. I'll take it.

Bynum's stamina: Did he really play 49 minutes tonight? That has to be a career high for him. He even finished the game strong which is impressive. Hope he has some juice left for Houston tomorrow. I'm liking his aggression on offense and I am confident that his defense will come around.

Go Champs!

[Rick12322]

Thanks, DB. Kobe tried desperately to make this a "short trip down the river," and at first it looked like it was going to work. Then OKC found their offense and it was a long night.

You're right, Kobe ball hogged too much in this one. The way he avoided Bynum in the offense in the whole second half was pure stupidity considering Bynum shot 66%. Maybe the sickness affected his thinking.

[prisma8slg]

Thanks DB. it was great to see Artest step up (especially on the road). I wanted to smack LO in the head when he missed both free throws
_________________
"I define success by championships, by winning..." Kobe Bryant

"I've seen it all. Sasha dunked on somebody," Kobe Bryant said. "I'm ready to retire now."

[limchrc]

thanks

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB! Excellent recap as usual. Tru-warier How appropriate!

Hope Kobe finds a way to beat the flu bug; that worries me more than any Rocket, Trev included.

[Alpha]

thanks db! don't know what i'd do without your reports (especially on non (HI) televised games).

[BigE32]

Thanks as always, DB. I only was able to watch the last 26 minutes of the game. Like you said, I really liked how Ron played, especially in the fourth quarter. We had way too many turnovers and didn't do a great job securing defensive rebounds IMO. Even though there were some questionable calls and we still got a W on the road, I'll take it. Hopefully, we're not too tired and can play a better game in all areas tonight in Houston.

[Arizona]

[Klone_dd]

I was hoping the grind-it-out kind of games wouldn't happen until later in the year, but you gotta take 'em as they come.

Kobe + flu is usually no problem. Maybe someone has some stats on Kobe's flu games. I would think the Lakers' winning %-age is high. More guys realize they have to step up. Drew offensively in the 1st half, then defensively in the 2nd. RonRon was amazingly focused and finally let loose to spearhead the team in the 4th. IMO, the major adjustment he has to make is learning to play with #24 on the floor. When Kobe's in, he seems to defer too much. When Kobe was out, he was ultra-aggressive.

Zero production from the bench. It's their turn to step up tonight.

[calistrtballr]

they didnt credit Bynum for blocks again tonight

[Tanlentueux]

thanks for the recap !