THUNDER -at- LAKERS - 3-9-14 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Meeks For 42… Jodie Meeks put the work in this past offseason, and he will no doubt be rewarded for it after the season is over.

Meeks dropped a career-high 42 points against the OKC Thunder to help drive the Lakers to the 114-110 home win. He outscored the Thunder in the 36-19 third quarter with 20 points, draining threes, attacking the rim and sinking freethrows (finishing a perfect 14-14 from the line and scoring his 42 on just 18 field goals).

"He just got on fire," D'Antoni said. "Defensively, I think he was out of sight on Westbrook the entire time. So that's a lot of energy he put out on the game."

Westbrook scored 20 on 7-23 shooting with 8 turnovers. The Lakers trailed by as many as 18 in this game, they took a big lead themselves, but despite Meeks heroics the game was still in balance with a couple minutes left.

Kent Bazemore helped keep the door shut with a three, a jumper and clutch driving score around Durant all in those final two minutes. Excellent job closing.


Gasol -- -- You can see what a difference it makes when we have a center boarding and challenging shots. Much better effort from Pau in this one after that poor efforts in the last ones. He was battling on the defensive glass and it made the difference. He even had some nice shot challenges. Unfortunately, you get these games only once in a while. Offensively, the Lakers went to him in the post with consistency when they couldn’t get early offense shots. That allowed for some nice balance. Our off-ball movement is horrible, however. In the triangle, we’d have cutters working off some screens with consistency. These days it’s just spot up and wait. That allowed the Thunder D to gear up for Pau more. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 8-17 shooting (4-4 from the line) to go with 11 boards, 3 assists, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 39 minutes. He was a +14. The Action: He missed a 6-foot hook. He was blocked on a drive. He attacked and threw it away, points the other way. He backed Ibaka down and banked off the glass. He missed an easy chippy he should have had. He grabbed a missed three and put it back in. Second Half: He was blocked out of bounds. Swing through and quick first step past his man for a layup. Too slow on his post attack and he was blocked again by Ibaka on help D. He missed a long face-up jumper. Wes hit him with a nice bounce pass on the screen-roll for an And-1, he made the FT. He lost control on a jumphook and missed. He rejected a shot at the end of the quarter. He scored an And-1 layup, powering over his man, he made the FT. He hit a jumper in the lane off the two-man game with Bazemore. Nice trap with Farmar on the sideline and they forced a timeout, nearly a turnover. He attacked Ibaka with power, pushed him deep into the lane, drew the D and hit Kelly for the three. He missed an off-balance hook in the post. He was called for a travel in the post, looked shoved (earlier in the game, they were pulling the chair on him some). He dunked off the drive and dish from Marshall. He was stripped from behind, not aware of the spacing. He missed a scoop in the lane. He was fouled with 0.7 left up by 2, he made both.

Meeks -- -- I don’t think Doug Collins has seen Jodie Meeks this season. He kept harping on how he told Meeks to only take one dribble and then pass. Shut up, Collins! Meeks played as if he heard him running his yap about his game and dropped a huge game in his face. “He’s upped his game, which is really fun to watch somebody get better,” D’Antoni said, saying Meeks has been the most consistent Laker this season. Meeks was on fire in the third quarter, draining threes, attacking for scores, getting fouled. He drew a couple of clear-path fouls in this one going from defense to offense in a flash. He did all this and had to defend Wesbrook. Guess this was his tribute to Kobe. A career night for Meeks and we probably could have got him 50 had we run more plays for him in the fourth. I know the Lakers want to keep him, but he’s worked his way into a nice contract from someone. His combination of D at three positions and three ball is what everyone is looking for. He’s added the handles, the floater and finishing ability to all that, taking everything to another level. Great game, Jodie. The Stats: He scored 42 on 11-18 shooting (6-11 from three, 14-14 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 4 steals, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 37 minutes. He was a +14. The Action: He missed a three. He was fouled for FTs and made both. He scored an And-1 layup off the pass from Marshall, he made the FT. He missed the jumper. He missed a wing three. He attacked with speed next time down and powered through contact for an And-1. He threw a kickout away, dunk the other way. He jumped a passing lane and drew the clear-path foul, he made both FTs. He sank a three straight away. He sank a corner three in transition. He swiped a kickout and was fouled on the pushout for another clear-path foul, he made both FTs. He airballed a wide open three on that same possession. Second Half: He attacked and threw a kickout away. He was called for a travel attacking off the three line. After fouling Durant on a three, he fouled Westbrook on an And-1 jumper. He drained a wing three on a quick swing pass from Kelly. He attacked baseline and reversed next time down. He scooped up a low pass and nailed a corner three on his next attempt. He blew past his man and drew FTs on the layup attempt, he made both. He attacked baseline on the dribble and drew FTs, he made both. He drained a wing three in early offense. In the zone, he drained the quick catch-and-shoot three in early offense. He knocked a pass loose but a poor outlet to Meeks and it robbed him of an easy deuce. He missed a wide open three. He was fouled on the sideline for FTs, he made both. He stripped Durant on a drive, but missed the three in transition. He finished with 20 points in the third. Back in, he moved in off the three line and hit the baseline jumper. He took a jump pass from Kelly and flipped it in over his head. Westbrook airballed a three over him with 34 seconds left, but stop.

Kelly -- -- Superb passing game from Kelly with 8 assists. How nice was that crossover on a dime against Durant, then the up-faked to lose him, finished off by the dish to Meeks for the reverse? He had Durant nearly out of his shoes on that and lucky to avoid a foul. He plays like he’s been in the league for three years, just very confident and sure of himself. Remember his first several games where he was hesitating on everything. He’s come a long way in his rookie season. He’ll have ups and downs, but he’s really showing a well-rounded pick. Lakers did well in the second round again. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-10 shooting (2-3 from three) to go with 5 boards, 8 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks and 2 fouls in 37 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: He missed a three. He sank an 11-footer. He made a layup off the drive. He forced an inbounds pass turnover with some backcourt D. He scooped up a loose ball and missed a layup. He rejected Durant under the hoop. He missed a 17-footer after moving in. He attacked, spun and missed the layup over the D, nice move. He swiped a ball under the hoop. He reversed around the D after cutting baseline and taking the Farmar pass. Great job stepping in front of Westbrook at midcourt and drawing the charge (and a tech on Westbrook). Second Half: Quick swing pass to Meeks for three. He found him again in transition for a reverse. He drained the sideline three off a swing pass. He crossed over to lose Durant, up-faked him out of his shoes, then hit Meeks cutting for the reverse. He drained the corner three on the kickout from Pau.

Johnson -- -- He had the Durant assignment for most of the game. Durant got a triple double, great game, but didn’t kill the Lakers. We gave him too many easy ones with fouls at the three line. Wes did that more than once. Offensively, a quiet game. The Lakers did a good job with their freethrows making 25-30, but 3 of those misses came in the final 2 minutes. Wes had one and Marshall two. Got to hit them when the game is on the line. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 3-8 shooting (1-4 from three, 4-5 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 37 minutes. He was a +7. The Action: He missed a three. He sank a jumper off the pass from Kelly. He missed a wing three. He was sandwiched taking a post entry pass for FTs, he made both. He missed a bank in transition. He gave up a 4-point play to Durant. He airballed a three. He scored an And-1 layup off the dump off from Marshall, he made the FT. He missed a long wing jumper. Second Half: Entry pass too hot, turnover. Nice help D sequence to knock a ball away from Durant. Nice extra pass to Kelly for the three. He found Meeks for the open three. Great help reach on Westbrook to force a turnover. He then hit Pau on the screen-roll for the And-1 layup. He fouled Durant on a three, stop that already. He was fouled on the defensive boards up 6 with over 2 minutes left, he made one FT.

Marshall -- -- He’s been a bagel master lately. Another one tonight. But he did a good job hitting teammate. Some great drives getting deep into the paint, drawing defenders and putting into the lap for teammates to score easy ones. Also good job looking for an open Meeks when he was hot. We hid him defensively, which we usually do against Westbrook with our PGs. He led the team in +/-. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-3 shooting from three (0-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 10 assists, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 27 minutes. He was a +17. The Action: He hit Meeks for the layup. He attacked down the lane, drew the D and dumped it off to Johnson for the And-1. He missed a wing three off the inbounds. Second Half: He missed a long three on an inbounds. He missed a wide open wing three in early offense. He attacked the paint deep, drew the D and served it back to Pau for the dunk. Intentionally fouled with 7 seconds left, he missed both clutch ones, ouch.

Bazemore -- -- We moved him to the bench to bring back Kelly and go bigger. Some struggles early on, but man, how sweet was that fourth quarter from Bazemore? In the last three minutes, he sank a three, a big jumper from the top of the key next time down and then he attacked from the wing around Durant and scored the layup in the final minute. Clutch scores with the game in the balance. We don’t get those scores, we probably lose. Great experience for him. The pressure was on and he didn’t hesitate or shy away at all. He was missed four straight threes early on, but he did a good job hitting teammates with some very nice passes, including a perfect bounce pass to Pau in the paint for an easy one off the two man game. Very good job on the boards. He finished second behind Pau in rebounding with half as many minutes. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 5-11 shooting (1-5 from three) to go with 7 boards, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 20 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: Sweet feed when the Thunder switched and he hit Sacre under the hoop for the dunk. He missed a pull-up three in transition. He attacked, took some contact with no call and missed the short runner. He missed a sideline three on a swing pass. Great hustle for a defensive board and he luckily drew a foul on the push out as he lost the dribble. He attacked from the three line and scored the layup. He missed a three in transition. Second Half: He attacked and banked over the D (looked like he lost control of it). He hit Pau on the two-man game for the short jumper. He missed a wing three behind a screen. He fouled Durant on a three. He attacked baseline and missed a layup. He finally drained a big three with 2 minutes left. He then nailed a pull-up 18-footer straight away next time down, huge clutch make. He got posterized by Westbrook on a dunk. He attacked from the wing and slipped a layup in under the Durant D with a few seconds left, ball game.

Farmar -- -- He nailed a trio of threes in the second half when the Lakers had the Thunder on their heels. He and Bazemore were a one-two punch off the bench in this one in that second half. He stole a point from Jodie taking and missing a tech FT while Meeks was on the floor. Defensively, he had some poor moments on the floor. We eventually ended up closing with Marshall down the stretch, which is something we have done lately, but Farmar was a big part of the Lakers strong second half. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 4-9 shooting (3-4 from three, 1-3 from the line) to go with 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a -13. The Action: He drew FTs attacking around a screen on the perimeter, he made one. He attacked and pulled up from 10 feet out and banked. He missed a pull-up from the wing. Horrible angle on D and he gave up a layup. He missed an easy bank after splitting a double team. He hit Kelly cutting for the layup. He attacked full speed and bricked the layup badly. He missed a tech FT (why are you taking it when Meeks is out there?) Second Half: He drained a wing three. He iso’d and sank the pull-up three. He curled into the corner off a screen, took the pass and drained the sideline three. He attacked down the lane and missed the scoop. He then picked up a tech on a bogus foul call. He bricked a three.

Henry -- -- Quiet game from Xavier. He scratched out a couple of scores, but did little else offensively. Meeks was on fire and we played him and the starters big minutes. Notice no MarShon Brooks in this game, as well. The Lakers made the Blake trade to take a good look at Bazemore. Brooks has struggled lately. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-3 shooting (0-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 13 minutes. He was a -11. The Action: He attacked baseline and drew FTs, he made both. He lost a dribble on a sideline. He airballed a pull-up jumper and wanted the foul. He swished a baseline jumper. Second Half: He missed a sideline three.

Sacre -- -- D’Antoni definitely wanted the W in this game. He played Pau big minutes and kept Sacre’s time on the floor down. Sacre was a -10 in 9 minutes. Pau was battling and we actually looked like we had an anchor out there for some lengthy stretches. Sacre had his only score when Bazemore hit him rolling for the dunk. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-2 shooting to go with 3 boards, 1 block, 1 turnover and no fouls in 9 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He traveled on his first offensive touch. He dunked off the screen-roll with Bazemore. He missed a jumphook in the lane. He swatted Ibaka but couldn’t control it. Second Half: He did not play in the second half.

D’Antoni -- -- The score was 17-16 when ABC finally went to the game… Pau, Kelly, Johnson, Meeks, Marshall were the starters and D’Antoni would play them big minutes. He needed a better effort in front of the home crowd from his guys… He brought in Farmar with the scored tied with 4 minutes left… He subbed in Xavier for Meeks shortly later… Pau and Kelly out for Bazemore and Sacre down 4… The Lakers trailed 35-26 after the first, a standard scoring quarter of late. Not a good start, but not horrible… He started a Sacre, Kelly, Bazemore, Henry and Farmar unit… A 7-0 start for the Thunder and D’Antoni called timeout. Now it looked like things were about to get out of control again… He brought in Meeks for Henry… Quite a bit of criticism from Collins and Hubie toward D’Antoni’s schemes in the first half when the Lakers were taking a beating… D’Antoni went with Pau, Kelly, Johnson, Meeks and Marshall down 14. They cut it to 5 with a three straight three-point plays and forced a timeout… The lead was as much as 18, but the Lakers cut it back down with some better D that quarter… The Lakers trailed 56-51 at the half… The lead edged up but some good D by the Lakers and scoring by Meeks and they made up ground. The Lakers took the lead, 71-70 with over 4 minutes left… Meeks on fire, in the zone and forcing a Thunder timeout. Lakers up by 5. Meeks throwing punches right and left on offense. Got to love the fight in him… He brought in Bazemore for Kelly and Farmar for Marshall, Lakers up 7l… A 23-2 run, Lakers up by 12 now and forcing another timeout… The Lakers led 87-75 heading into the fourth… He started a Pau, Kelly, Henry, Bazemore, Farmar unit… They extended it to an 18-point lead and forced another timeout. The Thunder behind Durant would start to chip away… Meeks back in after a 4-minutes rest… The Thunder cut it to 8 with 5 minutes left and D’Antoni called a timeout… He brought in Marshall for Farmar to close… The lead was cut to 3 with 45 seconds left. Thunder ball… Meeks forcing a brick by Westbrook. The Lakers would hang on to win… Great job getting to the line in this game and making 25-30. Just 1 offensive board for the Lakers and 19 for the Thunder. Amazing the Lakers pulled this off. Thank Meeks and Bazemore's final couple minutes. Just enough D by the Lakers…

[SweetP]

Great game! Wish they could play this way every time!

Meeks should be in running for MIP, he really has worked on his game.

But don't worry tank team, I'm sure they will lose some easier games.
_________________
“There is always light if only we're brave enough to see it, if only we're brave enough to be it.” --Amanda Gorman

[dino]

Thanks DB...Meeks really coming into his own this season...hope he stays with the lakers, wouldn't mind having him start at the 2 with Kobe at the 3...

[mhan00]

Thank god Brooks didn't play today. He's been a disaster.

Good to see Pau working harder today, but that begs the question of where the effort was the last couple. The Denver game on a back to back might be understandable, though not excusable, but against the Clips?

Meeks was awesome. Too bad he is playing himself out of our price range, but he's fun to watch and I wish him the best. And who knows? Maybe we do bring him back.

[Romano338]

At this point I'm not happy with the wins, I'm not happy with the losses.
All I want is this season to end. Quickly.

[TheBlackMamba]

Sucks that we have all these great role players now, but no stars. And it remains to be seen how many of them we can re-sign with our limited cap space

[Will2Win]

its ok guys we are still fourth in our tank efforst, Boston won today so we still get to be bellow them.

[Shaber]

All starters in their natural positions and - guess what - all had positive +/- and we got a W. So much for the small ball.

Lakers had 6 players in double digits, and that with Marshall not scoring a point. Great balance. Such teams are difficult to cover. Everybody can step up.

On the downside, we were outrebounded 59-36! OKC got 19 more shots than Lakers. With such stats you may sneak out a random W once in a while, but you'll lose more often than not. Time to start methodically practicing rebounding.
_________________
.

Lakers depth chart

PG Johnson / Goodrich
SG Bryant / West / Scott
SF Baylor / Worthy / Cooper
PF Mikkelsen / Hairston / McAdoo / Gasol
C Chamberlain / Abdul-Jabbar / O'Neal / Mikan

[A Mad Chinaman]

[Will2Win]

[Omar Little]

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[SweetP]

[Omar Little]

Watching the replay, enjoying the hustle, especially the sideline traps. Two things jumped out at me:

1. Gasol simply has no physicality of any type anymore. No lift, no explosion, and he's actually getting pot touches all the way out at the 3 line, because he doesn't fight for position.

2. Durant gets more phantom calls on jumpers than anyone since prime Dirk.
_________________
“We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” ― Elie Wiesel

[LGTownDrunk]

Bazemore's looking like a very clutch player this year. Let's hope the Lakers can re-sign him. Natiional TV ain't helping any.

Great write-up DB, thanks.
_________________
We want Soon now....we want Soon now....we want Soon now!

[A Mad Chinaman]

[TooCool]

Thanks DB!

I was so certain the Lakers would choke the lead away and blow the game.
_________________

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Absolutely amazing. Thanks DB!

[Klone_dd]

There were some M-V-Meeks chants at Staples yesterday.

Great game by Jodie. Really have to admire the improvements he's made in his game. I hope he hasn't played his way into a contract for another team. The Lakers should reward his efforts, but who knows if he's in their plans.

I still don't understand why Marshall was in to close because he's just not a threat to score. Evaluation time perhaps? Then you look at his +17 and Farmar's -13. The Lakers did a good job hiding him and Farmar on OKC's SG.

KB (no, not Kobe Bryant) was clutch down the stretch. Gotta like guys who don't shy away from the moment and who hits the big shots.

[Chronicle]

Meeks would have had 50 if not for Farmar
_________________
Kobe

[LakersMDGurl]

[A Mad Chinaman]