I had a feeling the Lakers were going to come out and play the best basketball they had in months. Actually, most fans probably demanded it, considering the team had been playing with the intensity of a turtle. In defeating the Thunder 87-79 on Sunday, it looks like they’re back on track.
It was clear from the opening drive that the Lakers knew how important this game was. In the first quarter, the defending champions chose their shots wisely, consistently looking for the open man and finding him. For the first time all year, Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher, Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum ran the offense as a team, and it effectively stunned the Thunder when it mattered most. Kobe wasn’t worried about putting up numbers, and distributed the ball with an ability we often forget he contains. He routinely fed the ball down low to the big men, Gasol and Bynum. Both were aggressive, yet Bynum was a pleasant surprise after missing the last 13 games. The two combined for 32 points and 25 rebounds as the Thunder struggled to neutralize them.
Still, the Thunder did play well defensively overall — the team just couldn’t match the Lakers on the other end of the court. I could say Artest and Kobe shut down Kevin Durant, but that wasn’t the case, as the scoring champion still tallied 24 points. While that’s seven points under his league average, it wasn’t greater than the differential in their loss. Instead, their 3-point shooting and weakness down in the post caused them problems. The Thunder were only 2-16 from behind the arc and were blocked nine times.
And now, a prophetic death knell for the Thunder: Laker coach Phil Jackson has never lost a series after winning the first game. He’s 45-0, in fact, and should feel confident about this one given his team’s recent performance.
