Los Angeles Lakers: 4 lessons from record-setting win over Thunder

Jan 13, 2021; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) high fives guard Dennis Schroder (17) and center Marc Gasol (14) during a time out against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second half at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 13, 2021; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) high fives guard Dennis Schroder (17) and center Marc Gasol (14) during a time out against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second half at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports /
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Los Angeles Lakers
Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports – Los Angeles Lakers /

The Los Angeles Lakers stay undefeated with their third straight blowout and set a franchise record!

The Los Angeles Lakers could have paid attention to the blockbuster Harden trade that their previous game sped up instead of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Instead, the Lakers stayed sharp using numerous runs to dominate OKC.

Lake Show Life breaks down what else happened in Lake Show Life Lessons! The only Los Angeles Lakers extended post-game report with in-depth analysis and highlights.

Two weeks ago, the Lake Show Life Lessons series was wondering if the Lake Show would ever start playing defense. Now that Anthony Davis made the executive decision to raise the intensity, the question now is, will the NBA be able to stay in the arena after halftime?

While the Los Angeles Lakers are partly responsible for exposing the NBA world to James Harden’s irreconcilable differences with the Houston Rockets, they didn’t spend their time watching the divorce less than 24 hours later that the AD drama look like a “Sweet 16” party.

While most of the NBA was paying attention to the blockbuster trade that sent James Harden to the Brooklyn Nets and how his teammates felt about it.

This game had all of the makings a trap game with a bad loss or at least a poor performance. Instead with Al Horford being held out for rest and a Houston-like “Micro Ball” lineup, the Lakers starting having Rockets flashbacks.

The Lake Show aka the “NBA Mixtape Tour”,  ran by the Oklahoma City Thunder winning 128-99.

At least the game wasn’t over by the time the National Anthem was over. It was over less than five minutes into the first quarter.

The Los Angeles Lakers have swept another road trip and have set a franchise record by winning seven straight games (And counting!) to start the regular season.

While the Lakers left little to be desired on the first road trip even though they won, the level of play and focus was streamlined on the second trip. Instead of coasting along and waiting to close out late, the theme now is jumping on teams early and sending a message.

This game was no different from the night before by way of huge Los Angeles surges.

  • The Lakers jumped out to a 16-4 lead in the first quarter.
  • Then they had a 16-0 run in the second quarter.
  • After allowing the Thunder a 14-2 run just before halftime, the Lakers effectively ended the game with a 21-4 run to begin the second half. 

Even though the score looked a lot worse than the two games against the Rockets, this game helps in the long run. At least the coaching staff saw how the game plans worked against a team that actually tried. OKC actually caused breakdowns in the Lakers’ interior defense can be worked on.

The biggest storyline of the road trip is watching the Lakers work on building good habits on both sides of the ball.

Finally, the Thunder deserves a lot of credit for playing hard without one of their top players in Al Horford. It’s very rare that a Lakers post game actually points out lack of effort from an opponent.

The Lakers couldn’t use the game as a shootaround session as they did against the Houston Rockets.

To the new Los Angeles Lakers fans that are checking us out for the first time, welcome to Lake Show Life Lessons. Our extended post-game report with video analysis will cover the progress for the Los Angeles Lakers the entire season!

 Over the next several pages we will provide highlights of certain players and coaches. Afterward, the comment section is loaded with knowledgeable fans adding their basketball knowledge. We usually start with the stars.

Let’s get to Lesson One to find out who!