I'd like to think this series is going to be an extremely competitive Kobe vs Durant showdown, but in the end I think the Lakers frontcourt will be the deciding factor. Brain - Lakers in 6 Heart - Thunder in 7 Damn it. Forgot to make a poll.
I said it before, if anybody can beat the Lakers, this will bt that Thunder team. I love the Artest - Durant matchup, cause Durant will just own Ron Ron and I am really looking forward to see that. But the Key IMO will be Fisher against Westbrook and Green vs. Gasol. As you mentioned Brain: Lakers in 6-7 Heart: Thunder in 7 But we have to admit they have lost last 2 games against pretty average teams. But they Lakers have been playing poorly as well. So it will be interesting. Great series!
The Lakers look old at times I'm looking for Derrick Fisher to have a couple o furs during the series.
If Bynum is healthy, Jeff Green will have to guard him or Gasol. That will pretty much decide the series right there.
Lakers in 6. Durant and Westbrook will win a couple of games for OKC, but in the end, experience and veteran leadership wins out. Kinda sucks OKC fell all the way to the 8th spot, when they were fighting for 2nd seed a week or two ago.
IMO the Lakers are vulnerable right now. Kobe is on the decline and he is down in almost every category from last season. Artest is not his old self either and trying to stop Durant is going to be a nightmare for him... hate to say it, but Ariza might actually have been better for that matchup, despite his gambling. Westbrook is so much better than that scrub Fisher even though he is overrated. The real advantage LA has is, of course, their frontcourt, but I don't know if it's going to be enough. Should be a tight series.
Doesn't matter. Durant is a great shooter but he's gonna be physically overmatched by Artest. Kobe will be Kobe. The backcourt is equal. Gasol is gonna dominate though
Westbrook on Fisher and you say backcourt is equal? Westbrook can finish the series averaging 30 points triple double.
Don't be so sure That Durant will own Ron Ron. Artest wants that ring and lives to shut guys like Durant down when it matters most. I think alot of it depends on what Laker team comes out of the gate. Will the Lakers come out looking unmotivated or like they are ready to repeat, you never know with them. Does Durant truly become a superstar in this series or does he learn a hard lesson? I think Westbrook is huge, he needs to dominate the laker point guards and he should do so. I say Lakers in 5 or 6
Artest didn't have a ring last year either, and that didn't stop him from generally doing a poor job guarding Brandon Roy. I think Artest will be ok now because he plays for the Lakers, so the refs will let him be really physical without having to worry about fouls.
I'm not saying Artest "will" shut down Durant, I'm saying I wouldn't be surprised if he does make it pretty tough though. Yes you're right he'll probably use his physicality to frustrate him. Artest guarding Roy last year has zero to do with this series
I'm going to say Lakers in six. I think a lot will depend on Bynum's health. This series will be won strickly by that. But if Bynum isn't healthy, the Thunder have a legit chance of putting a scare in the Lakers. The Thunder have a clear advantage in the PG spot, the SF spot, and bench. They have a strong bench with several big guys to plug in. Artest will be effective in certain stretches in the game. The problem is Durant is too fast for Artest. I can already see him in foul trouble. Look for Artest to try and muscle him around. If Jeff Green, Westbrook, and Harden can play at a high level, the thunder has a chance.
The Lakers should easily win this series. With this being the first playoff experience for nearly all of the Thunder players, I don't expect them to do well. Westbrook's performance has fallen off severely to finish the season. He can dominate Fisher, no doubt, but let's see if he can bring his "A" game more than once or twice this series. Whoever says KD will own Artest has no clue. Artest is the perfect defender for him. If the refs "let them play", KD will have a very rough time of it. Even if Kobe doesn't play his best, the Lakers have Pau, who I expect to dominate and be the series MVP. The Thunder have nobody to match up with him. Whenever they decide to, the Lakers will simply shut off KD and force someone else on the Thunder to beat them. If that doesn't happen, it's ball game. The only way the Thunder can win is for KD, Westbrook, Jeff Green and Harden to all shoot the ball well. They will also have to find their long lost defensive intensity, which seems very doubtful at this point. They aren't playing playoff type basketball and their collapses down the stretch recently have been massive. Bottom line: The Thunder have built up a lot of hype during the season, deservedly so, but that team is gone. The current model Thunder that doesn't play defense on anyone has no margin for error and will go down easily in 4 or 5 games. One more comment on Artest guarding KD: This isn't Artest guarding Roy. Brandon Roy is very strong. Once he gets a step on a defender, he can seal them with his shoulder. KD's first step isn't as fast as Roy and KD also isn't strong enough to seal a defender as easily. If the refs let Artest push KD around, it will be a long series for the Thunder because Artest will focus on him like a madman.
I'd have to disagree on this one. Before the Thunder defeated the Lakers in their last regular season meeting they had been 0-3 vs LA therefore they are not the best team to knock the Lakers off their perch. The best matchup in the 1st (or if you're a Laker fan the worst) would be the Portland Trailblazers. This team has owned the Lakers for the past two seasons and just recently beat them on their homecourt without Brandon Roy, who left with a banged knee in the 2nd. The Lakers have matchup problems with the Blazers even while being depleted at the bigs positions and seem to always struggle to take control of the game and get Kobe and Pasol going. The next team I would see the Lakers having a problem with would be the Spurs, that is IF Tony Parker comes back at full strenght from his injury.
I think this will be the most interesting thing to see in the series. Which will win out, the Lakers long history of favorable calls from referees in the playoffs, or some combination of anti-Artest pro-KD sentiment that refs have been accused of in the past?
