LAKERS -at- THUNDER - 3-13-14 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

1-2-3 Cancun… The Lakers really had no business winning the last one against the Thunder. They went off offensively behind Jodie Meeks’ 42 points.

Tonight, they played a more prototypical game. Meeks got his 19 to lead the team. The Lakers D gave up 130+ points and picked up where they left off losing by ridiculous numbers.

The Lakers eventually fell 131-102 to the Thunder, giving up 71 points in the second half. Sometimes it looks like they are just going through the motions.

The Lakers are 17 games from Cancun. Nights like this, they look like they are halfway there.


Gasol -- -- He got to sit the fourth as the Lakers were blown out. Some good work on the offensive glass by Pau, better than the last game. The Lakers were still getting killed on the glass. If he’s not playing his best on both ends, we just don’t stand a chance. It’s too easy to score against us. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 5-12 shooting (4-6 from the line) to go with 6 boards (3 offensive), 2 assists, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 26 minutes. The Action: He missed a jumper from the top of the key. He missed a turnaround in the lane. He was fouled on the offensive glass to regain possession. He sank a turnaround working the post on iso. He attacked down the lane and jammed with his left. He missed a baseline jumper. He hit Kelly cutting baseline for the dunk. He hit Wes cutting from the elbow for the layup. He was hit on a jumper working the post, he made one FT. He missed a 16-footer. He was blocked on a double team. He was blocked on a screen-roll layup attempt. He attacked the paint and drew FTs, he made both. He was blocked out of bounds in transition. Second Half: He dunked off the screen-roll with Meeks. He cleaned the missed drive by Meeks. His pass was picked off, but he hustled in transition to disrupt the Westbrook layup somehow. He threw a kickout away. He grabbed a board and put it back in. He was fouled and made one FT.

Meeks -- -- There was no 40+ point performance from a Laker tonight and they couldn’t hang with the Thunder. Meeks was left high and dry by his bigs trying to defend Westbrook on the perimeter. Westbrook was shedding Meeks off screens and hitting jumpers with no bigman helping. Offensively, another steady game from Meeks. Nothing spectacular, but the numbers are there at the end of the night. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 6-15 shooting (3-4 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 31 minutes. The Action: He lost the ball for a dunk to start the game. He drained a wing three on his first touch. He was blocked on a floater. He missed a runner off the glass. He was blocked again on a floater. He threw up a prayer at the elbow expecting a foul that didn’t come. He got tapped on a layup. He poked a ball loose on a reach around, took the outlet and scored. He made a tech FT. He had 6 points at the half. Second Half: He attacked off the Pau screen, drew the D and hit Pau for the dunk with a nice pass. He drained a corner three off the bullet feed from Marshall. He attacked the paint off the handoff, missed the layup, but Pau cleaned it up easy. He missed a wing jumper trying to draw FTs. Way off on a corner three out of a timeout. He attacked baseline with a quick first step when they crowded him and he scored a layup. He drew FTs attacking again, he made both. Out with speed, he took the long bounce pass from Marshall, shielded a defender with his body and scored the And-1 layup over his head, he made the FT. He sank a wing three on a swing pass. He missed a three from the other wing.

Johnson -- -- He was firing some off-balance, poor shots to start the game. Those are just wasted possessions. The team can usually create good looks, just keep moving the ball instead of chucking. I’d also like to see more off-ball movement from him. He had one cut tonight where we found him for a score. Otherwise, he just parks himself out there and we waste all that athleticism. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-11 shooting (2-5 from three) to go with 4 boards and 3 fouls in 30 minutes. The Action: He missed a forced wing three. He got lost in the post to give up a layup. He forced another wing jumper off a loose ball. Another brick on a quick-fire wing jumper, off balance some again. He cut from the elbow and Pau found him for the layup (more cutting like this, please). He missed an open sideline three, his best look so far on a jumper. He swished a wing three on our last shot of the half. Second Half: He missed a corner three. He jammed off the lob from Kelly on the out-of-bounds play. He attacked and missed a pull-up. He jab-stepped and hit the sideline three. Off-balance chuck from three, miss.

Kelly -- -- He looked like a vet out there at times against pressure D. He didn’t look rattled and he even got Durant into foul trouble late in the first half. He’s got a good head on his shoulders for a rookie, for sure. Just looks more comfortable than he has any right to be in his first year. “A certain number of games into the season, you’re not really a rookie anymore,” Kelly said. After his career high of 8 assists on Sunday, he had 6. Another good job finding teammates (nice one-handed lob on one play). D’Antoni said Kelly has played well enough that he may keep him in the starting lineup instead of returning Bazemore there. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 4-8 shooting (2-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 6 assists, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 29 minutes. The Action: He drained a wing three on a kickout from Marshall. He was blocked by Ibaka on a throwdown. He cut baseline and reverse jammed off the Pau pass. He blocked Westbrook’s layup on the break. He threw a pass away trying to hit Kelly in the lane. He dumped off an extra pass to Henry for the dunk. He attacked Butler on iso and drained the jumper right over him, very nice. He missed a turnaround fade over a smaller defender. He spun and missed a one-handed bank. He blocked a jumper on a recovery. He ball watched and his man cut behind him for a dunk. Quick outlet to Meeks who had knocked a ball loose and it led to a layup. He drew back-to-back fouls on Durant (second and third) with 2 minutes left in the half, he made both FTs. He gave up FTs to Westbrook on a jumper with 0.4 left in the half. He had 9 points, 4 assists and 2 blocks. Second Half: He lost the ball off the dribble. He ball faked, attacked and missed the layup. He lobbed with one hand to Wes behind the D for the dunk. Good challenge on one end and he nailed a wing three on the other to force a timeout.

Marshall -- -- Some scoring from Marshall in the first half. No bagel in this one. He did look awful from the freethrow line. And he really looked poor in transition D. He should take a look at how DFish plays the transition, taking charges and making something happen by guessing. That’s better than standing flatfooted and watching guys move around you with ease for scores. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-5 shooting (1-2 from three, 1-4 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 6 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 22 minutes. The Action: He hit Kelly for the open three on the weakside. He drained a three on a kickout from Kelly. He missed a three behind a screen. He attacked the lane and took it for a layup when no one believed he would try to finish. He iso’d against Durant, attacked and hit a one-handed step back off the glass, nice. Second Half: Bullet feed to the weakside right to Meeks for the open three, on the money with that feed. His pass to Meeks was picked off, FTs the other way. He blew past Westbrook and was hacked in the paint, he clanked both FTs, uggh. More FTs and he made one this time. He hit Meeks in transition with a long bounce pass for the And-1. XXX

Bazemore -- -- Not a very efficient game for him. He needs to watch the chucks from distance. I don’t mind the drive and misses, sometimes others will clean those up because of all the attention he draws. He did a good job on the glass, leading all Lakers with 7 boards. Love seeing that from our guards. Defensively, we put him on Durant a little. He’s definitely not ready for that assignment yet, but I liked seeing us give him the challenge when the game was pretty much out of reach. The Stats: He had 16 points on 7-17 shooting (2-5 from three, 0-1 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 1 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 27 minutes. The Action: He missed a corner three. He attacked the wing and flipped in a layup before the D could help. His bounce pass to Sacre was picked off in the lane. He attacked in transition, took contact and scored an And-1 off glass over the help D, he missed the FT. He ran the clock and missed the tough, contested three, not a good look. Great bounce pass to Kelly on the break who handed it to X for the dunk. He swished a wing three. He tied up a man on help D for a jumpball. He lost the ball getting trapped on the wing. Second Half: He attacked and was blocked from behind. He swished a pull-up 20-footer. He missed a long chuck from the wing. He attacked Durant and missed a floater. He drained a wing three (should have been an And-1). He curled around the weakside, fell, got up and finished the lob dunk set up for him out of the timeout. He drew an off-ball foul on the other end to get a stop. He attacked Fish and banked the tough leaner. He missed an early offense chuck from three. He attacked and airballed a layup. He attacked in transition and missed a layup. He couldn’t finish a late-arriving lob over his head. He drew an offensive foul on a screener. He missed a drive, but Sacre cleaned it up.

Farmar -- -- Slow first half, but he heated up a little as the game went on. The team was already buried when that happened. The Lakers lost the break 31-20 in this game. We’re just too easy to score on in all aspects of the game. Wish we had someone who was a vocal defensive leader, but that’s not happening. On the road, you have to grind it out defensively. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 4-9 shooting (3-6 from three, 2-4 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 26 minutes. The Action: He missed a wing three on a kickout. He missed an open sideline three, fading a little as he rose up. Second Half: He drained a deep three behind a screen. He attacked next time down and drew FTs, he made one. He drew FTs out on the break on the next possession, he made one. He was held trying to split a double team with no call, turnover. He drilled a wing three after losing Durant behind a screen. He got tapped on a wing pull-up jumper. He drained a wing three in transition. He missed a wing three. He stole the ball and pushed it out for a layup. He wound up and threw a pass out of bounds.

Brooks -- -- He’s out of the regular rotation and only got minutes in garbage time. Nothing worthwhile to mention. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting and had 1 turnover in 5 minutes. The Action: He did not play in the half. Second Half: He missed a corner three. He fumbled a ball out of bounds.

Henry -- -- Wow, Ibaka was just playing volleyball with Xavier’s soft finishes tonight, sending him packing on multiple drives. Ibaka had 7 blocks. Seemed like most of them were against X, especially during one stretch in the second half. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-14 shooting (0-2 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 22 minutes. The Action: He missed a wing three. He airballed a baseline jumper by about three or four feet. He missed a wing jumper on iso. He dunked in transition off the extra pass from Kelly. He attacked in transition and scored a layup around the defender. He got tapped on a layup after a Euro-step to lose a man. Second Half: He missed a long jumper from the wing. He was blocked on the break. He attacked off the three line and was blocked again. He missed a wing jumper. He attacked again and served up another block for Ibaka. He missed a wing three. He drew FTs on a drive and made one. He missed a short pull-up. He got away with a travel but scored the stat padding layup with a second left.

Sacre -- -- Wish he could spark the team more defensively. He plays hard, but we need someone who can lead the team on D, preferably a bigman that anchors. Sacre give you serviceable third string bigman minutes. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-2 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 block, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 22 minutes. The Action: He was fouled after rolling to the hoop, he made one FT. Second Half: He went to set a pick, but got passed to instead, turnover, points the other way. He blocked a drive out of bounds. He drew a clear-out foul on a good challenge. He missed an open wing jumper. He tapped in a Bazemore miss.

D’Antoni -- -- Down 6, he brought in Farmar and Bazemore for Marshall and Kelly… He brought in X for Meeks a minute later… He sat Pau for Sacre down 12 another minute later… The Lakers trailed 33-19 after the first quarter… He started Sacre, Kelly, Bazemore, Henry and Farmar… The lead edged up, then the Lakers started getting out in transition and cut it to 11 to force a timeout… The Lakers trailed by 14 when he brought back in Pau and Meeks for Xavier and Sacre… Down 19 when Wes and Marshall returned for Farmar and Bazemore… D’Antoni called timeout down by 21 shortly later… They chipped it down some in the last couple minutes while Durant had to sit with foul trouble… The Lakers trailed 60-46 at the half. The Lakers shot 37%, the Thunder 48%. The Thunder had a 33-16 advantage on the glass… Out of the rotation in the first half were Brooks, Kaman and Hill… Durant quickly sat after 2 minutes… Some nice plays by Kelly and they forced a timeout down 11… The lead ballooned back up to 23 and D’Antoni called a timeout… He brought in Bazemore and Henry for Kelly and Johnson… He brought in Sacre for Pau and Farmar for Marshall… Lakers scored 31 in the third quarter, but gave up 41. Got to love the D… The Lakers trailed 101-77 heading into the fourth… Sacre, Kelly, Bazemore, Xavier, Farmar to open the quarter… He brought in Wes for Kelly… Down 24 with 5 minutes left, he brought in Brooks for the garbage time… The fourth time in five games, they gave up 130+ points…

[ODotSoHot]

First?

[LuciusAllen]

It was probably unrealistic to expect a result much different from what we saw. A better OKC team looking for payback at home. Oh well.

Thanks DB.

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[SweetP]

Didn't expect a win.
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“There is always light if only we're brave enough to see it, if only we're brave enough to be it.” --Amanda Gorman

[Gimme_the_rock]

Most of the recaps are better than the games and much less painful.

Thanks for the great work, DB.

[Shaber]

The win over OKC was an abnormality. Losses like these are normal for current Lakers - just because their non-commitment to play D.
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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

[DancingBarry]

Forgot to mention I won't be able to cover the next one.

[K28]

Holy crap. Watching that game was hard enough...but writing this up has to be an act of extreme masochism.

[K28]

[waterman40]

Tanks all around!

[A Mad Chinaman]

[Kobe1Shaq2]

Long time lurker here.

I got to say I miss reading the "winning" thoughts & ratings daily like we used to have.