Los Angeles Lakers: 5 Lessons from win over Oklahoma City Thunder
By Ronald Agers
The Los Angeles Lakers were able to get a big win on the road against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Here are three lessons from the win.
If you are a Los Angeles Lakers fan trying to figure out what is going on with the roster, the coaching situation or anything going forward, I have some advice…
Just take it like the post game reports, game-by-game and see what happens next. Anything else will drive you nuts trying to speculate. Because no one knows what is going on with this team and anyone that tells you different is lying to you.
No one knows. This game is all the proof you need…
After losing to the New York Knicks about two weeks ago, after getting embarrassed by the Cleveland Cavaliers and nearly blowing it against the Chicago Bulls…
You had to know the Oklahoma City Thunder would blow them out of the building on their way to Houston right? I mean the Thunder have the best statistical defense in the NBA! The Lakers are dead last in offense since LeBron James got hurt! Boy is this going to be ugly!
Umm…right?
That’s why they play the games.
The Los Angeles Lakers overcame a 17-point deficit in the first half. After a few lineup changes, the Lakers go on a 21-5 to get back in the game. They used that run as a platform to win 138-128 over the Oklahoma City Thunder in one of the more difficult arenas in the NBA to play.
As big a shock as the Lakers loss on Sunday, this probably a more shocking Lakers win that may have saved Luke Walton’s job for the rest of the season (Any comments with the I told you so…will be ignored!). This game showed that if the team comes out and plays hard and smart, this team can hols the line until LeBron James comes back. Each win represents more time off and rest for James.
One of the major storylines in this game was the slow starts the Lakers were prone to that led to lineup changes. One of those lineup changes was JaVale McGee being supplanted in the starting lineup for Tyson Chandler. It wasn’t the timing of McGee’s benching, just the circumstances.
The lineup change didn’t help as the Lakers fell behind 39-27 at the end of the first quarter. This summed up the first quarter…
But there was three more quarters and an extra five minutes!
Strap up it’s going to be a wild ride…
Here’s the Lake Show Life lessons!