There were two NBA Supermen, past and present, inside of PayCom Arena on Tuesday night in Game 1 of the Thunder’s easy 108-90 romp over the LA Lakers. But here’s the thing… neither of them really decided the outcome of this mismatch.
Shai was held to 18 points and turned the ball over 7 times on a human night. KIA’s Clutch Player of the Year didn’t even sniff my Three Stars of the Game.
LeBron, on the other hand, did make my list as No. 3 even being an eighteen point loser as he was the lone singular bright spot for a Laker team which in no real way should even be playing in the second round of these Western Conference Playoffs.
My No. 1 Star easily went to the oft maligned Chet Holmgren as he made the Laker’s interior game look like a collection of chumps. Chet’s line was 24 pts, 12 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots.
My No. 2 Star is Isaiah Hartenstein for his workman-like 8 point, 9 rebound, and 4 assist night.
I moved him ahead of LeBron because that’s my perogative on this blog and LeBron’s team lost by eighteem points on a night when Shai played like he was sick and JDub was dressed on the bench like he was going to attend an Amish square dance after the game. JDub, dude….borrow something to wear from Shai…seriously.
So there’s that.
This is not a matchup I’m into seeing much more of if this is all the Lakers can throw onto the wall. In fact…I watched more minutes of the Colorado Avalanche 5-2 second round win over the Minnesota Wild. Nathan McKinnon looks like he’s on a mission to MJ.
OKC’s bench outscored the Lakers 34-15. The Thunder continually feasted feasted off Laker live ball turnovers and points off tuurnovers. This wasn’t a game, but more of a predetermined outcome.
To put this in clearer perspective, Austin Reaves and Marcus Smart combined went 7-31 from the field and 2-13 from beyond the arc. Not much Bedlam spark there.
In reality though…I’m not sure this is good for the Thunder to play back to back series against the likes of Phoenix and the Lakers. Because one would think the survivor of the Spurs-TWolve series is going to be road tested, especially if it’s the Twolves who survive.
Either way, kudos to Chet and Isaiah for plugging away and getting better in preparation of what they’ll be facing from the bigs in the next round of play.
Go Avs!!!
Mike J