Los Angeles Lakers blow another one against the Oklahoma City Thunder
By Ronald Agers
![Nov 4, 2021; Los Angeles, California, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Darius Bazley (7) has his shot blocked by Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis (3) in the first half at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports Nov 4, 2021; Los Angeles, California, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Darius Bazley (7) has his shot blocked by Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis (3) in the first half at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/ab3085daa363dc9a3359ad9ed621a793cbbea0a0989785e09b19857de30031ba.jpg)
The bad from the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss:
The Los Angeles Lakers love giving up huge runs to the Oklahoma City Thunder it seems…
Last week: After leading 41-19, the Lakers started imploding giving up 37 points in the second quarter and got outscored 41-23 in the third quarter!
Let’s put this trend in perspective to make it clear that the Los Angeles Lakers have to wake up when LeBron is not in the lineup.
- After AD’s explosion to start the game, the Lakers were up 19-8 before OKC closed the deficit to 25-21.
- After collecting a 19 point lead in the first half, they gave up a 23-8 run to only have a four-point lead at halftime.
- In the third, the Lakers were up ten points before the Thunder went on an 8-0 run to cut it to two points.
- Then in the last quarter, the Thunder went on a 13-0 run to take their first lead of the ball game. The Lakers were outscored 35-24.
The Los Angeles Lakers have too much talent to allow teams that are unapologetically in full rebuild to stay in games like this much less win them. Killer instinct has to start kicking in for this team if they have championship aspirations.
Anthony Davis sprained his right thumb.
Anyone that has played basketball on any level knows that this injury hurts no matter how minor it may seem. Davis toughed it out but it will be interesting to see over the next few games how the thumb affects his shooting.
The center matchup.
Maybe Frank Vogel sees something that this writer does not. What part of the success of starting Anthony Davis at center does this coach miss?
- Dwight Howard: 2 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals and a block.
- DeAndre Jordan: 1 point, 3 rebounds.
- Derrick Favors: 10 points (5-5 shooting!), 11 rebounds.
We could talk about that awful lineup at the seven-minute mark when Carmelo Anthony, Anthony Davis AND Russell Westbrook were sitting at the same time…oh we just did.
To quote David Fizdale (Anybody think he should be coaching the Lakers yet?)…
TAKE THAT TO DATA!!!!