Thunder Can’t Shake the Lake

Awash in a sea of blue, the Los Angeles Lakers stormed into the Ford Center and silenced the crowd and the Oklahoma City Thunder 95-94 to take the best-of-seven series, 4-2. Pau Gasol’s (9 points on 4-11, 18 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocked shots) put-back with .05 seconds left was the game and series clincher as the Lakers move on to face a familiar foe in the Utah Jazz on Sunday afternoon. Kobe Bryant (32 points on 12-25, 7 rebounds, 3 assists) was the Kobe of old, nailing shot after shot to single-handedly carry the Lakers in the 3rd period. Kobe would amass 16-points in the quarter but would also pick up his 4th foul, sending him to the bench for an extended period of time. But the Lakers got ample support from the Bench Mob as Shannon Brown (11 points, 1 rebound), Luke Walton (5 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists) and Lamar Odom (9 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocked shots) combined to keep the game under control.

The game started with all the noise and pagentry of a Final Four match-up as both teams fought for control of the game. The Lakers started well enough, sprinting out to a 11-4 lead behind a 3-pointer from Derek Fisher (11 points, 6 assists, 1 steal). Kevin Durant (26 points on 5-23, 14-15 free throws, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 blocked shot) found himself struggling from the field again as he went 0-5 in the opening stanza. But he was able to get to the free throw line with regularity which enabled the Thunder to stay close. Russell Westbrook (21 points on 9-20, 9 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals) picked up the scoring slack as he attacked Kobe early with bursts of blinding speed. Meanwhile, Kobe appeared to have difficulty with his lift as he had his shot blocked by Durant and was unable to finish at the rim on a pair of drives to the hoop. But the Lakers were able to effectively limit the number of breakouts by the Thunder and trailed only 27-26 at the end of one.

The free throw disparity quickly grew in the 2nd quarter as the Thunder went to the line time after time. Fortunately for them, this kept them in the game as their shooting woes spread to the entire team. Brown’s second 3-pointer of the quarter reclaimed the lead for the Lakers at 35-34. Jordan Farmar (3 points, 4 assists, 1 rebound) would follow that with a trey of his own as the bench held their own for one of the few times in the series. Gasol’s dunk at the 3:41 mark gave the Lakers a 47-41 lead as the Thunder called time out to regroup. The teams would trade free throws to close out the first half and Kobe would put an exclamation point on top of it with a picture-perfect 9-footer with 0:04 seconds left. The Lakers led 53-47 and limited the Thunder to just 33% shooting from the field while connecting on 45% of their attempts. But the Thunder were able to generate much of their offense at the charity stripe, going 17-21 compared to 8-12 for the Lakers. The bench produced 20-points in the first half as the Lakers headed to the locker room with confidence and complete control of the game.

The 3rd quarter opened with Jeff Green (16 points on 6-12, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 blocked shot) hitting a corner 3-pointer, then throwing down a monsterous jam to immediately trim the lead to 53-52. But Kobe would answer with a 3-pointer of his own to silence the crowd. Kobe would score on an assortment of shots as he carried the offense in the period. But the Thunder had gotten some of their confidence back in check as they battled back each time. Green would score on an alley-oop from Westbrook, then score again on a fastbreak slam over Fisher to knot the score at 63-63 with 6:48 remaining in the period. Kobe would answer with a 9-footer in the lane, followed by a LO dunk straight down the pipe. Kobe would then hit a pair of 3-pointers and suddenly the Lakers were in command again, 73-67. But Kobe would pick up his 4th foul and had to head to the bench with 2:46 left on the clock. The Thunder would take advantage as the Lakers searched for a go-to guy down the stretch. They would go on a 6-0 run to tie the score at 73-73 as their boisterous fans exploded in jubilation. Fisher’s big trey would enable the Lakers to escape the third with a slim 76-73 advantage.

Phil Jackson went with the bench to start the 4th quarter and they did not disappoint. Brown’s three-ball immediately pushed the lead back up to 6-points. Walton would then score on a post move for his first points of the game. Luke followed that up with a corner 3-pointer and the Lakers were up 84-77 as the regulars managed to get extended minutes on the bench. Ron Artest (7 points on 3-10, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 blocked shot) suddenly found the range, converting on a 3-pointer, then following it up with a 17-footer for a 91-84 lead. But the Thunder would make their final push, first with a Durant trey, a Westbrook pull-up at the free throw line, then a three-point play by the former Bruin to give the Thunder the lead at 92-91 with 3:03 left in the contest. The Lakers would cough up the ball on three possessions in that span and suddenly the Thunder looked like their were ready to extend the series to a Game 7. Durant would score on an uncontested lay-up as Gasol and Odom looked at one another in confusion. But Kobe would hit a crucial jumper over Durant to keep the Lakers within striking distance at 94-93.

Both teams would get multiple chances to score in the closing minutes but the defense on both sides would prevail. Lamar’s block on Nick Collison would give the Lakers two attempts on the offensive end, but both Kobe and Artest’s shots could not find the target. Westbrook would miss a hurried 3-pointer as Lamar secured another rebound with a minute to play. Gasol’s left handed hook went far right of the target and the Thunder looked to put the game out of reach. With time running down on the shot clock, Westbrook would miss another jumper as Kobe corraled the rebound with 0:17 to go. The entire side cleared out as Kobe took Westbrook one-on-one. Kobe attacked and drove hard to the baseline and pulled up for a 13-foot fallaway that went long. The ball caromed off the opposite side of the rim just as Pau slipped into position on the right side of the hoop and he easily put back the miss for the 95-94 lead with .05 seconds left on the clock. A stunned thunder crowd moaned in agony as the Lakers bench exploded into Pau’s arms. Westbrook’s desperation heave from the corner was on track but fell a few inches short as time expired and the Lakers escaped with the narrow win to end the series.

• dEDGE Post Scriptum •

Perhaps overlooked in this series were the subtleties that Phil Jackson implemented into the game plans. Putting Kobe on Westbrook was a huge factor that forced the speed demon to think twice about where he was going to get his offense. But of equal importance was the swarming help defense that Phil triggered whenever Durant got the ball in the mid-post. Durant was forced to pass out of the double- and triple-team which prompted others to take the shot. And this, with no one else really stepping up, was what they were willing to trade for in exchange. Thabo Sefolosha and James Harden were non-factors tonight. They would combine for a total of 6-points in 13-minutes each. Although Jeff Green would get hot in the 3rd quarter, he could not find those same looks down the stretch in the final period. Instead, OKC was forced to employ Nick Collison (4 points on 2-5, 6 rebounds) and Serge Ibaka (10 points on 4-6, 8 rebounds, 1 blocked shot) in crunch time and in the waning moments, they were unable to deliver.

Give the young Thunder credit, they did not go away quietly and continued to play hard until the bitter end. Chalk this one up to playoff experience and the superior preparation by the Lakers in closing out this series. Fisher continues to come up with big plays at the precise moment. His 3-pointer at the end of the 3rd period proved to be huge as it halted the Thunder’s momentum heading into the 4th quarter. Andrew Bynum’s (6 points on 3-6, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 blocked shots) stats may not look all that impressive, but the young center continued to force the defense to collapse, opening up room for Kobe to operate. Bynum sustained a hyperextended right knee but seemed eager to get back into action in the 4th quarter. His presence in the middle as the last line of defense altered many of the Thunder’s shot attempts. Bynum will be reevaluated back in LA tomorrow but he seemed upbeat about his latest injury. “Doesn’t feel like one of those things that is that bad. It’s one of those things I can play through.” Hopefully for the Lakers, they can play through the beat-up Jazz just as well.