Los Angeles Lakers avoid an OT upset against the OKC Thunder

The Los Angeles Lakers seem to like playing past 48 minutes these days. After surviving a double-overtime marathon against the Pistons. They played yet another overtime affair against the OKC Thunder!

Sometimes you wonder if the Los Angeles Lakers are trolling their fanbase…seriously.

After being pushed to play an hour past bedtime with a Detroit Pistons team that was more focused on trading Derrick Rose to double overtime, the Lakers fooled around with an Oklahoma City Thunder team with eight players and landed back in overtime…again.

But the main thing is they avoided another disastrous loss with a 119-112 win.

How did they win?

• The Lakers outscored the Thunder 34-26 in the fourth quarter.
• Then they outscored OKC 9-2 in overtime. 

Lake Show Life has to tell it like it is…the Los Angeles Lakers stunk.

The good from the Los Angeles Lakers’ win:

LeBron James…Period!

The man had a triple-double. Okay, you say…So? But he had it after three quarters! 18 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Oh, there’s a rumor that he dunks good too.

He finished with 28 points, 14 rebounds, 12 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. WOW!

Montrezl Harrell got the party started for the Lakers offense:

Montrezl started a little bit out of rhythm at the start (He even threw the ball to the “Invisible Man” and the ball went out of bounds!) but when he got used to his surroundings, BOY he got comfortable.

He was the first Laker in double figures knocking down his first five shots. The energy and passion that this guy is playing with are killing narratives of how NBA pundits excuse NBA players taking the night off.

The Los Angeles Lakers needed support for LeBron James and he provided it throughout the night.

The Lakers second-half defense at the start:

The Oklahoma City Thunder scored 3 points in six and a half minutes in the third quarter. Let that sink in for a minute. Whatever Frank Vogel and the coaching staff tells this bunch, the players listen like they are EF Hutton.

Anthony Davis did not play:

Holding AD out of this game because of his Achilles shows that the Los Angeles Lakers are playing the long game for this season and beyond. There were discussions between the training staff, the coaching staff and the front office about how this tricky situation should be handled.

This injury is no joke and with the quick turnaround for this franchise, it was a very smart move to sit him down this game to figure out how the franchise of the future should be handled going forward. If he sat a few more games, Lake Show Life wouldn’t be mad at that either.

The bad from the Los Angeles Lakers’ win:

Anthony Davis did not play:

But didn’t you just say…

Lake Show Life is all for Davis getting his body reset and injury-free, but the Los Angeles Lakers are going to struggle big time in rim protection. Opponents weren’t particularly afraid to go to the rim with AD in the game. Man, OKC had a ball in the first half scoring in the paint. 40 points from a depleted OKC team dressing eight players is ridiculous. Allowing free access to the third-worst offense is even worse.

But when you allow Justin Jackson, a guy only friends and family knows is still in the league to get to the paint and score…

Get healthy AD. The Lakers need you.

Man, the Los Angeles Lakers can turn the ball over at a high rate at times!

The Los Angeles Lakers had 8 turnovers in the first quarter alone. The defense was already hurting without AD. Nuff said. Remember the wonderful defensive stand the Lakers had to start the second half? Wasted by turnovers that turned into Thunder fast break points. They had 15 for the game.

The Lakers really have to break the bad habit of crying to the referees. 

Let’s be clear here, this writer watches other matchups besides the Lakers games and the level of calls this year has been spotty to be kind. With that being said, (LeBron James and Montrezl Harrell this means you!) if the Lakers get fouled (Or think you did!) and miss shots, is it too much to ask someone to run back on defense and argue at the next dead ball? Just a suggestion.

This is not to say these guys don’t have a point (Oh they do!), but referees talk. They read the news like the rest of us and a chosen few have been known to have long memories. If the Lakers catch the reputation of arguing every call, it will come back to bite them later on this season.

The story from the Los Angeles Lakers’ win:

Man, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander can play folks!

This guy, win or lose, destroyed the Los Angeles Lakers. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the cornerstone of the Paul George trade. If PG-13 chokes another playoff performance, that trade will be yet another Clippers joke for the Los Angeles Lakers fanbase. He’s that good.

Dennis Schroder when the score was 97-93:

Up until this point, he was terrible. After this point, he went crazy on both ends of the court. His block on a Gilgeous-Alexander drive at the end of regulation was huge. If the Lakers can get some consistency from this guy, there will be unity back to Lake Show Life complaining about Marc Gasol.

If the Lakers can’t create turnovers…they can’t score!

In the first matchup, OKC kept turning the ball over and the game was over before it started. In this game, they took care of the ball and the Lakers were extremely frustrated. Bottom line, the Lakers shouldn’t have to work LeBron to this level against bad teams.

The offense did not get untracked until late in the 4th quarter. Luckily, LeBron and Trezl were balling with a dash of Dennis Schroder at the end was enough.

Lake Show Life’s more in-depth breakdowns will come in Lake Show Life Lessons tomorrow. Keep it locked for the only Los Angeles Lakers post-game report with highlights and in-depth analysis.