Behind the Box Score, where the Oklahoma City Thunder dominated the fourth quarter. Again (Ball Don't Lie) ...more ?
Oklahoma City Thunder 103, Los Angeles Lakers 100 (Thunder lead series, 3-1)
You get the feeling that every quarter the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder play is worth a column of its own. Our wrists can't handle such an exercise, though, and in a series like this, I'm not sure I can handle another exhausting three games. Though I'd like to see the Lakers and Thunder try.
Where to start? Well, it's almost as if Kobe Bryant realized his own line of [nonsense] emanating from his high free throw total in Game 3. Yes, he got to the line 18 times and secured the Lakers' win, but it wasn't as if he was driving and getting hit to get to the stripe. Most of his looks came on fouls on the perimeter, with Oklahoma City in the penalty, and not some head-down brand of dashing to the goal. Come on, Kobe.
So what did he do in Game 4? Come on, Kobe. Come on so damn good. He was brilliant, to start. Absolutely fantastic in dominating in the post against both Thabo Sefolosha and James Harden, and outpacing even his Game 3 rate (10 free throw attempts at the end of the third quarter in Game 3, 14 of those bad boys at the same time in Game 4) at the free throw line by, you guessed it, putting his head down and driving to the rim. Smart, tough, and cerebral play from a man playing nearly his 51,000 combined regular season and postseason minute, on the second night of a back to back.
Behind the Box Score, where the Los Angeles Lakers answered at home (Ball Don't Lie) ...more ?
Los Angeles Lakers 99, Oklahoma City Thunder 96 (Thunder lead series 2-1)
Game 1 was the blowout, the startling realization that the Oklahoma City Thunder remained a championship-level force to be reckoned with, even after a week-long layoff. Game 2 was the ugly nail-biter, the one that Los Angeles let get away. Game 3? It wasn't perfect. But it was fantastic, end-to-end playoff basketball.
There were quibbles, to be sure. Thunder coach Scott Brooks probably shouldn't have left Derek Fisher try to guard Kobe Bryant after Kobe's entrance in the fourth quarter; Kevin Durant will get criticism for the pass he made (to Serge Ibaka, in the game's third-to-last possession); Ibaka will get criticism for the pass he didn't make (to Durant or Russell Westbrook with the Thunder down three with three seconds left); and Kobe Bryant's ability to goad referee Marc Davis into putting him at the line on a phantom foul late in the fourth quarter. There were mistakes.
[Photos: Lakers get back in series with win over Thunder ]
Kobe, though, earned just about every other trip to the line. He hit double-figure free-throw attempts by the end of the third quarter, and did not fall victim to the low-percentage looks down the stretch like he did late in Game 2 (save for one instance, that led directly to OKC going up five in the middle of the fourth as Kobe admired his follow through). One drive and score over both Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka in the fourth probably saved Los Angeles' season. Whine all you want over the Lakers shooting 42 free throws and Kobe hitting 18 of 18, but by my count he earned all but four of those 18 (both on phantom fouls versus James Harden), and the Lakers earned this win.
Do the Los Angeles Lakers have a chance in Friday?s Game 3? (Ball Don't Lie) ...more ?
The Oklahoma City Thunder had the best record in the tough Western Conference for most of the season, and they've yet to lose in six postseason games. The Los Angeles Lakers, meanwhile, struggled through an up and down regular season, and the team has lost nine of its last 13 playoff games, dating back the group's second-round sweep at the hands of the champion Dallas Mavericks last year. An admittedly watered-down version of those Mavs, you'll recall, was swept out of the playoffs by the Thunder just two weeks ago.
With this unfortunate bit of history in place, and with a desperate Game 3 set to tip off on Friday night, is it possible the Lakers have any chance ? both not only in this series, but in Game 3? That's going to be a tough one, Los Angeles.
We're well aware that the team was just over two minutes away from stealing the home-court advantage in this series on Wednesday night. Game 2's final-minute meltdown shouldn't take away from the fact that for 46 minutes the Lakers hedged off of Oklahoma City's screens expertly, covered ground in transition, forced nine more turnovers than they were able to in Game 1, while clogging the middle on drives from Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Kevin Durant. The defensive template, clearly, is in place.