Los Angeles Lakers repeat listless play in OT win over Thunder (Again)

The Los Angeles Lakers had a rematch in the Staples Center against the Oklahoma City Thunder. After an embarrassing overtime win a couple of nights ago, the Lakers somehow played even worse at the start of this one. Think it lasted 48 minutes? 

Really? No really? ANOTHER OVERTIME?

Well, the debates on what’s wrong with the Los Angeles Lakers will be starting real soon. In what was almost a carbon copy of a couple of nights ago, the Oklahoma City Thunder pushed the Lakers into overtime.

The Lakers avoided the third straight embarrassing loss in three games with a 114-113 win. The Lakers have now won six straight games and are undefeated in their Staples Center homestand.

Anybody happy? Or just relieved. Lakers Nation…you make the call.

The good from the Los Angeles Lakers’ win:

Dennis Schroder made an impact!

To the loyal readers of Lake Show Life, this is not a misprint. Yes, Dennis Schroder was huge in this game keeping the Lakers close, especially in the first half. His activity and attacking the basket landed him at the free-throw line time and time again.

Then when he got there he knocked them down as well. But like in the last game, Schroder did his mega damage in the overtime scoring the first four points of the extra session. He matched his scoring total from the last game with 19 points.

Montrezl Harrell…PERIOD!

Lake Show Life has a mandate. Pay Montrezl Harrell and lock him up now! One, because the man is balling to the point it’s breaking news if he misses two in a row. Two, the Lakers don’t want to meet this guy in another uniform doing this!

Harrell was playing so well, the Lakers were running their entire offense through him for a while in the 4th quarter. he finished with 20 points.

They are playing a tanking OKC Thunder team with young players!

The only reason the Lakers went to the locker room down ten points is that the Thunder is a bad team playing without their best player in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. They missed numerous layups, they turned the ball over and they fouled so much that the Lakers had 18 free throws in the first half alone.

The Los Angeles Lakers had better players and more options. Literally, the Thunder had eight players again.

Great teams know how to win and bad teams find ways to lose. This is the real storyline of this win.

The bad from the Los Angeles Lakers’ win:

The entire first quarter: 

The Los Angeles Lakers should have been embarrassed with their performance against OKC a couple of nights ago. The first quarter showed the Lakers just have no shame. The defense allowed 37 points. If the Thunder wasn’t a bad team without their star player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, they could have scored close to 50.

The team defense of the Lakers is atrocious:

Has anyone noticed that players that no one has ever heard of are all of a sudden having career nights against the Lakers? The star of this game’s episode is Kenrich Williams, who filled in for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. His season averages? 4.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists. If you remember he played for the New Orleans Pelicans, here’s a gold star for you.

This is just the first half for Kenrich Williams. 17 points (8-9 shooting!), 2 rebounds with an assist and a steal. He set a career-high in field goals made (This is the first half folks!) and was four points from his career-high scoring total. He had a career-high 24 points.

The Lakers did not stop the offensive sets of the Thunder. They got any shot that they wanted for the most part. If Mike Muscala could shoot straight or if Darius Bazley wasn’t trying to shoot the ball running from contact, this would have gotten out of hand for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s confidence is gone:

KCP was balling at the start of the season knocking down shots and playing good defense. Those days are gone. He’s is in a slump and the guards are starting to fly by him for baskets.

The story from the Los Angeles Lakers’ win:

The Los Angeles Lakers are vulnerable against a slow-paced team: 

The Los Angeles Lakers have an outstanding record but the warts are starting to show. Any of the top championship contenders (Except Brooklyn!) can just watch these past two games and put together an encyclopedia of defensive schemes. The Thunder took away two of the Lakers’ major offensive components.

• They didn’t turn over the ball that leads to the fast break.
• They didn’t allow the Lakers to get second shots. 
• Hence no easy points for the Los Angeles Lakers

In Oklahoma City, turnovers ended the game before it started. In these two games on the West Coast, they took care of the ball and the Lakers were extremely frustrated and were lucky they won both.

The jump shots have stopped falling for the Lakers as well. All game long, LeBron just saw bodies loading up like he was Giannis Antetokounmpo. He would pass to shooters and shots the Lakers needed just clanked off the rim most of the night. OKC just shot worse.

Add another 40+ minute night for LeBron James. This is not a good look if you are a Lakers fan.

The Lakers miss Anthony Davis however…

The Lakers really miss Alex Caruso. The rotations have been a mess and his intangibles have been under the radar. UNTIL NOW! AD needs to stay out to rest that Achilles for the long run, but Alex Caruso is needed ASAP.

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.