OKC Thunder 117 — LA Lakers 113
So there I was… in my sports room with the sixty inch flat screen.. On the couch with my wonderful black lab Pauli poised by my side. Fireplace toasty. Blanket in place. Two books on my lap that I figured would keep me awake since I was about to watch an NBA game which had the dumpster fire LA Lakers as one of the teams involved. The sound turned down on the Fox broadcast so I wouldn’t have to listen to any homering nonsense from either Brian Davis, Michael Cage or Antonio Davis. It couldn’t get anymore Norman Rockwell. But wouldn’t you know it…here I am at 5:00am just now writing the recap because of what transpired in the fourth quarter
The axiom in the NBA or any sports endeavor is just win. Find a way to win, regardless of the opponent or how bad you were up to the game defining plays of a contest. So–I have to give the OKC Thunder that much because I’m a fair, objective minded guy at the end of the day.
OKC’s Thunder survived themselves and a Lou Williams 23 point fourth period to claim an extremely hard fought 117-113 win over the now 8-30 Lakers in Staples on Friday night.
Seventeen of Williams fourth quarter points came in the first eight minutes of the period. On the night, Williams scored a career high 44 points which included some brilliant shot making and a 15-15 night from the free throw line.
Yet, in the Laker world of Kobe Bryant, who went 8-20 on the night–it was Kobe who took the last shot instead over Kevin Durant. The shot came up short and OKC survived because for the most part because Billy Donovan went small coming down the stretch, spaced the floor, and got Russell Westbrook to the rim on pretty much every possession when the game hung in the balance against these defenseless dumpster fire Lakers.
Sorry, Lou Williams, I only give No. 1 Stars to a guy from the winning team because winning matters. Russell Westbrook is my No. 1 Star of the Game with a 36 point, 12 rebound, 7 assist night.
Four other Thunder players scored in double figures. Durant went for 24, Adams 10, Kanter 15, and rookie wunderkind Cam Payne 11.
OKC’s bench scored 33 points on a night when Waiters was awful and Morrow was quiet. Thus, the incredible saga of Dion Waiters in Oklahoma City continues. One game removed from being my No. 1 Star he was arguably the worse player on the floor for OKC tonight. In Dion’s defense–Serge Ibaka was almost as bad.
When the players you have pegged as your No. 3 and No. 4 scoring options for the season play fifty-one minutes combined and score a combined 9 points against the worst defensive team in the Western Conference that’s an ominous red flag which is hard to ignore if you want to realisticly evaluate OKC as a viable contender come April, May, and June.
So the final take is this…OKC improves to 26-11 with a hard fought road win over the worst team in the Western Conference due to Russell Westbrook putting the team on his back in the fourth period.
OKC will drop in my weekly Power Poll to either No. 5 or No. 6 because you can’t aspire to be a serious contender if you don’t have dependable third and fourth options every night.
OKC in Portland on Sunday evening.
Mike Jackson