Lets Go Thunder! I Don't Want the Lakers to go up 3-0

This recap was a Live In-Game Blog written by yours truly, JB.  I apologize in advance if it seems random, but this was one of the best games I have watched in a while.  As a fan of the Thunder this was exciting to see them continue to battle back until they were able to pull it out.  Enjoy and please check out my boy, G’s, Suns vs Blazers wrap-up as well.

Lakers 27, Thunder 22 (End of 1st Quarter)

The Oklahoma City Thunder fans have an awesome (in my opinion) tradition where every fan stands until the Thunder score their first basket.  Unfortunately, already down 2-0 in the series to the Lakers, the Thunder fans stood for first three minutes as the Lakers opened up to a 10-0 lead before Jeff Green drove to the basket for a lay-up and the foul.  The Lakers ended up hitting their first seven shots pushing the lead to 15-3.  While the Lakers started off hot, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook opened up the game 0 for 7.  Durant finished the quarter with 2 points but he was able to grab 7 rebounds before picking up his second foul.  To pick up his slack, James Harden made his first basket of the series, a three pointer, and added a total of 8 points in the first quarter to help the Thunder cut the Laker lead to five at the end of the first.

Lakers 50, Thunder 43 (End of 2nd Quarter)

Kobe Steps Up and Drops 11 Points in the 2nd Qtr.

The Oklahoma City Thunder defense stepped up early in the second quarter holding the Lakers to just 7 points in the first five minutes of the quarter.  The only problem was that in the same time span the Thunder could only muster a Serge Ibaka dunk and a Kevin Durant jump shot (he finally made a shot after opening up 0-7).  Although the Thunder are keeping the game close, their big men are struggling against the Lakers.  They just cannot match up and if this continues it will be hard for the Thunder to win.

The second part of the second quarter came down to three things; Thunder’s defense, Kobe Bryant, and Kevin Durant’s third foul.  Oklahoma City was able to force a few turnover along with some long jump shots allowing Russell Westbrook (10 points) and Kevin Durant (8 points, 11 rebounds) to get out and run.  Every time the Thunder would close the gap it seemed like Kobe Bryant (11 points in the quarter) would hit another deep three or fade away jump shot.  With three minutes to go Kevin Durant picked up his third foul on a charge.  Luckily the Lakers were not able to take advantage of Durant’s absence, and only led 50-43 at half.

Lakers 75, Thunder 74 (End of the 3rd Quarter)

Okay, so I think I have finally given up on thinking that Thabo Sefolosha will ever develop a jump shot.  The Thunder are continuing to model their offense off of the Phoenix Suns, but when Sefolosha is in they are basically playing 5 on 4.  The Thunder cut the lead to three at 50 to 47, but Kobe Bryant and company pushed the lead back to seven at 56 to 49.  Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum continued to wear down the smaller big men of the Thunder.  The big two combined for ten points early in the 3rd quarter.  Thabo Sefolosha must have been reading my twitter during this quarter because not only did he hit one three pointer, he hit two!  One of my favorite things about watching the Thunder is that they never give up.  Throughout this game the Lakers take a ten point lead, and then the Thunder to cut it three or four points, only to watch the Lakers go up by ten again.  Oklahoma City are pests that never go away.  I’m hoping that if they keep coming back enough they can win this game.  I am liking the fast paced style the Thunder are playing.  With Kobe out, the Thunder went on an 8-1 run which included a three pointer by James Harden (18 points) and Kevin Durant (17 points on 4-17 shooting).

Thunder 101, Lakers 96 (Final)

Let me start off the 4th quarter saying that I love Serbe Ibaka.  He may be raw but he is so fun to watch.  Ibaka started the fourth hitting a jump shot and then slamming one home to give the Thunder a 78-77 lead early.  Andrew Bynum then had a monster dunk right on Nick Collison’s head along with a foul to tie the game at 80.  With 6:30 left to play the Thunder are up 84 to 82 and Kevin Durant has 21 points and 18 rebounds.  Not to get off topic, but that shows that Kevin Durant will not only be a superstar, but will be one for years to come.  Even when he is after an off night (6-21 at the moment), he is doing everything else to make up for it and to help his team win.  I do not think the Thunder will win the series, but they are playing way to hard to get swept in this series.  They need to win this game.  Kevin Durant is starting to get hot as he now has 25 points and 19 rebounds with 4 minutes left to go in the game.  Nick Collison and Serge Ibaka have also stepped it up on defense slowing down Gasol and Bynum.  With less than four minutes to play Russell Westbrook hit a three as the shot clock was winding down to give the Thunder a 93 to 85.  After a Ron Artest two, Lamar Odom hit a deep three to cut the lead to three, 93-90 with 1:50 to play.  Russell Westbrook came down to knock down a fifteen footer while getting fouled to push the lead back to six.  Los Angeles stepped up their defense getting four points from Artest and Gasol to bring the lead to two points.  Although Kobe had a horrible shooting performance in the fourth quarter (2-9 from the field) his driving lay-up brought the Lakers within two points at 98 to 96.  The Lakers had to foul and they had to foul Kevin Durant.  Durant calmly sank both free throws.  After a few missed three point attempts and another foul on Durant the Thunder walk away with an 101 to 96 win against the Lakers.  The Lakers now lead the series two games to one.  Check below for the players who stepped up in this game.

He was a Monstar Tonight.

What You Need to Know:

When the Thunder played fast, they played well.  After starting the game 0 for 7, Kevin Durant finished the game with 29 points on 8 of 24 shooting and grabbed 19 rebounds.  When Coach Scott Brooks switched him to guard Kobe Bryant in the fourth quarter, he was able to slow Kobe down and make him a passer rather than a scorer.  Durant did all the little things to help his team win.

Russell Westbrook and James Harden had a monster games.  While Durant struggled until the fourth quarter, Westbrook and Harden provided steady offense.  Westbrook finished with 27 points and 8 rebounds and was able to push the ball helping the Thunder to score more than twenty fast break points.  James Harden, who was scoreless in the first two games, exploded for 18 points (3-4 from three point range).  Harden helped the Thunder come back after falling behind 15 to 3 early in the game.

Serge Ibaka and Nick Collison stepped it up in the second half.  These two along with Durant helped the Thunder out rebound the Lakers 53 to 39.  Any time the Thunder can out rebound two seven footers in Gasol and Bynum, they have a great chance to win.

-JB

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G here. Unfortuantely I excitedly picked the Blazers-Suns series to cover, so instead of staying tuned into one of the best playoff games of the season, I was forced to witness some of the worst basketball I’ve seen a team play all year. Keep in mind I went to multiple Nets’ games, and am a Sixers fan.

Suns 108, Blazers 89

In game one, the Blazers came out with a chip on their shoulder, and shocked everyone as they beat Phoenix in Phoenix to take the series lead. In game two, the Suns made some key adjustments, shutting down Andre Miller leading to a rout of the Blazers. Game three, which took place in Rip City, was embarrassing on the Blazers’ end. At the end of the first quarter, the Suns led by 18. At the end of the first half, the Suns led by 29.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, but in professional basketball, no team should ever be blowing a team out by these types of wide margins. The Suns got every loose ball. The Suns played lockdown defense. The Suns just played great basketball.

But rather than read more rants about how horrible the Blazers played (at home), let’s look at what you need to know this game:

1. Jason Richardson scored 42 points and 8 rebounds. This was due to the massive attention paid to Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire’s pick and roll. Stoudemire finished with 20 points, while Nash dealt out 10 assists. Richardson was literally laughing at how wide open he was. He shot 13 of 19, hitting 8 out of 12 from three point land.
2. Stoudemire stupidly decided to throw an elbow at LaMarcus Aldridge at the tail end of the third quarter. Typically, I would pay no attention to an errant elbow, but after KG was suspended a game, it wouldn’t shock me to see if some type of punishment is dealt to Stoudy (My gut says some type of fine).
3. Andre Miller and LaMarcus Aldridge, the two heroes from game one were held to a combined 28 points tonight. The Blazers need Brandon Roy. Immediately

Moving forward, it’s going to be hard for the Blazers to come back from this crushing home loss, but stay tuned to see what happens! (By the way, how awesome is it to see Grant Hill in the playoffs. It’s amazing.)

-G