OKC Wins Laugher, Then Steals Game Two

Thunder 119, Lakers 90

Thunder 77, Lakers 75

It would have been a lot easier to write about the first two games of this series if OKC did to the Lakers in Game Two what they did to them in Game One. But what does one say about a Lakers team that gets exposed and embarrassed in Game One and comes back two nights later, on the very same court in front of the very same 20,000 psychotic fans, and virtually shuts down the Thunder’s high-octane offense and forces them to play half-court LakerBall–only to throw the game away in the final two minutes? Yeah, I forgot the question, too.

Game One displayed the Thunder and the lightning. Showing no sign of rust, OKC ran roughshod over the obviously tired Lakers.  Probably the most telling stat—after the final score—was the turnover/steal ratio. The Thunder committed four turnovers (!) to go with a whopping 13 steals. The Lakers turned it over 15 times and had one steal. Brutal.  Another thing: Only three Lakers ever got to the foul line—World Peace was 2-2, Bynum was 6-6 and Kobe was 5-7. Fifteen foul shots! OKC took 29 foul shots.

Game Two was a whole different animal. The Lakers were on a mission from the jump. Pau came out swinging, Bynum was strong inside and Kobe, always intense, had an extra bit of intensity in this one. You could see it in his every move. The Thunder were ahead by three at the half but the Lakers asserted themselves in the third quarter, scoring only 18 points but holding the Thunder to 12, probably OKC’s worst quarter this year—or last year, for that matter. (Their final 77 points was the fewest number of points they have scored this season.) It pretty much stayed that way until 2:08 were left in the game and the Lakers ahead by seven points (their biggest lead) on a pretty left-hand baseline hook shot by Bynum. The score was 75-68 and the Lakers looked home-free.

What happened after that was a series of missed shots, forced shots, turnovers on lazy passes and a medley of coaching gaffes. Yes, Kobe missed big shots at the end and he threw a horrible pass that Durant picked off and slammed home but he still deserved better than what he got last night. For starters, he deserved Ramon Sessions to be in the game instead of Steve Blake. Has Mike Brown lost his mind? On what planet should Blake be playing more minutes than Sessions, a guy the Lakers traded for because they needed a more dynamic point guard than Derek Fisher, and Steve Blake, an okay backup, was not deemed up to the task. And now Blake is playing more minutes than Sessions—and there he is in crunch time? It’s true that Sessions has seemed tentative at times but that has a lot to do with his being unsure of his role or the confidence Brown has in him. Mike Brown has to keep Sessions on the floor and tell him this: Stay aggressive and keep creating. We got you because you’re damn good and you make us much better. Now go out there and do it and don’t worry about mistakes and missed shots. Just keep ballin’.

Instead, we get Steve Blake, who threw a horrible pass that gave OKC the ball in the last minute, then was tentative on the late inbounds play so that he a) couldn’t get the ball to Kobe and b) had to use a time out. Notice that after the time out, World Peace was called upon to make the inbounds pass. But Blake remained  in the game, and wound up taking the last shot–The Clang Heard ‘Round the World. Hey, Kobe misses last-second shots, too. But the idea that the inbounds pass was intended for Kobe but wound up in Blake’s hands points to a breakdown that Brown ‘s coaching partly caused. Blake had enough time to get a pass into Bynum instead of taking that shot. Needing two points, Bynum should have been the first option after the timeout. After all, a two–pointer would’ve tied the game. They didn’t need a 3-pointer.  And the Thunder wouldn’t have dared to foul Bynum and risk a 3-point play that might have won the game for the Lakers.

When Kobe got the inbounds pass with 18 seconds left, down by a point, he should’ve shot it right away or gone right to the hoop because everyone knew OKC had a foul to give and that’s when they would be forced to take it. Then if the worst happened—no foul and a missed shot, there would still be time to foul and hit a 3 when you get the ball again. Instead, Kobe over-maneuvered and they took their foul-to-give with only 5.7 seconds on the clock—with not a single shot having been taken in the preceding 13 seconds.

The two point guards—Sessions (playing 24 minutes) and Blake (playing 26 minutes)—had a combined grand total of zero assists. Fifty minutes. Zero assists. In Blake’s case, it’s because he can’t create off the dribble and is just too slow. He’s strictly a spot-up 3-point shooter. In Sessions’ case, it’s because he’s too tentative because he lacks confidence. And that’s on Mike Brown.  One thing Brown should have noticed: When the Lakers were going well in the third quarter and early fourth, Sessions was on the floor. Even when he’s off his game, he still can handle the ball and penetrate much better than Blake. Even Sessions’ perimeter shooting is as good as Blake’s.

The Lakers must win both games at Staples Center on Friday and Saturday. Back-to-back must-wins is one of the biggest challenges this team–this franchise—has ever had to deal with. But what they did to the Thunder in the first 46 minutes in Game One must give Laker fans hope that is based on reality. Yes, this series could be a sweep, or it could be the beginning of a brand new Laker team, one we haven’t seen yet this year—a bunch of guys who are finally fighting for each other, and who know how good they are if they work hard.