GreatOne78 by your logic all OKC has to do is force Ron Artest and Andrew Bynum to take long contested jumpers to win.
OKC and LAL don't play the same defense. OKC fronts the Laker bigs or plays them straight up, they have very good man defenders they don't do schemes to hide the deficiences of Gasol, Bynum (mobility wise) and Fisher...Lakers need these funneling zone defense to make use of the length and forcing ball handlers to shoot over the top and free up the opposing bigs.
There is a limit to that theory, as we saw from yesterday. You can't just "take the ball" away from their hands. Durant is way too tall, way too long and way too fast for anyone to deny him of the ball. Westbrook? No chance in denying him the ball. The Lakers will need a better game plan than hoping their opponents' will miss. All of their players are proven to be capable and willing to hit an open shot, unlike Rondo. The Lakers are basically going up against the Celtics with fully loaded offensive weapons.
Mohammed hitting Js last night was fluky. Ibaka and Harden not so much. Taking the ball "out of the hands" of both KD and Westbrook is wishful thinking. They key for the Thunder is ball-movement and motion. Really, there is every reason to think OKC is better matched for the Lakers than last year, where they were able to hang with them. Should be interesting if they meet up.
Im not saying ball denial (although Ron does a good job with that) but funneling him to the big man. You look at his shot selection right last night, Ron was right on his hip on side of the floor forcing him to Bynum and Gasol's direction. Give props to KD he hit his shots last night over the top. Westbrook had it going early but he cooled off big time. Again KD is the only true shot maker on that team who has unlimited range and the ability to hit over 2-3 defenders, Lakers are gonna send the extra defender(s) and get the ball out of his hands against the sideline
Like I said above, movement will be key for OKC in half-court. Westbrook's confidence going against Kobe has clearly increased and he doesn't fear him anymore. Neither Fisher nor Blake have a chance to keep up with Harden. If KD keeps running off screens and getting baskets in transition, he will be better off than last year. If the Lakers focus too much on KD, OKC can hurt them now. If they play each other, I hope it's in the 2nd round.
Westbrook had 16/4/4 to begin the game and did nothing the rest of hte way until he hit that late game 4 point play on Kobe. I agree Westbrook has improved his J to combat Kobe going under the screens, we'll see how he does in the postseason.
I agree. The Thunder's frontcourt gave the Miami Heat a lot of trouble, and they are the only ones with enough size to matchup against the Lakers' frontcourt. Rebounding wasn't an issue at all for them yesterday. You know what's the craziest thing about OKC? They are probably the only NBA team in the league who could keep their roster the same and still get closer and closer to the championship.
16/4/4 in the 1st quarter. 6 fastbreak points so not technically in the halfcourt against the set defense of Kobe and Lakers
If Durant keeps shooting from 10-15 feet, Lakers will in trouble. He is deadly from there. He must avoid long 2-pointers. Nobody in the NBA is successful against 2-3 defenders, even Kobe. You are going over-the-top. One can also say Kobe is the only Laker with unlimited range.
Despite Westbrook not doing much the rest of the way, the Thunder still won. Otherwise, it might have been ugly.
Lakers had 1 turnover through 3 quartesr and 9 turnovers in the 4th. I don't see LA committing that many TOs again in the 4th.
The game was 108-104 I believe with 3 mins remaning? And Kobe got careless with the ball and the game was out of reach by the time Westbrook hit that 4 point play
But that's like saying had Westbrook deferred to his teammates more once he got cold the game wouldn't even be close. These mistakes happen for a reason. If the Thunder breaks some nba or franchise record in order to beat the Lakers, then it's safe assume it won't happen again. But to hope Ibaka and Harden (who are going insane ever since ASG) will fail to hit open shots during the playoffs is wishful thinking. The Lakers were not exactly a head above OKC when they beat them last season, and that was with Durant having an abysmal playoff series. Now you have Ibaka, Harden and Perkins in the mix. Even IF Durant has yet another bad playoff series, the Lakers will still have to account for those 3.
Or the Thunder took control of the game even before WB's shot. It was 104-103 Lakers with just over 3 mins remaining, then a 15-0 run by OKC. You know, it's called crunch time. Would it have been "careless" if Durant had fouled Blake or Fisher on a 3-pointer under the same circumstances? It's interesting how you selectively rationalize, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
You are right. I'm dense and just now figured that out. At least he doesn't have a sorry attitude. I don't mind homerism or being against teams as long as the poster doesn't get too emotional.
But look at who's taking the shots...it was Harden, Ibaka and Mohammad shooting a high percentage and gettinga ton of looks...heck even Sefalosha was shooting it, this was going right into the Lakers gameplan. Sure night in and night out they weren't goin to commit 1 turnover in 3 quarters but considering how they're bottom 5 in regards to turnovers commited the chances of committing so many turnovers late in the game are slim. Again i give credit to the Thunder, they won the game they beat the Lakers gameplan. You guys keep pointing out that Durant didn't have a good series last year and yet it was close, doesn't the flip apply what if Kobe didn't have knee issues and didn't get it going until the 5th game (when he had his knee drained) so Kobe wasn't at his best either.
