Flash-forward to Saturday, where the Lakers found themselves at the lowest point of their title-defending season, losing again to Oklahoma City amid a haze of blurry white jerseys and eardrum-splitting fans.
The Lakers didn't lose as much as they were flattened at Ford Center, 110-89, trailing by as many as 29 while their best-of-seven series was tied up at 2-2.Kobe Bryant had only 12 points, their plan to pound the ball down low was fully unsuccessful, and a top-seeded team has lost a series to an eighth-seeded team only three times in 52 chances in NBA history, a reality that needed to be revisited after another Lakers flop.Game 5 is Tuesday at Staples Center, perhaps the only kind words to be said about the Lakers on Saturday.Bryant had a peculiar game, making five of 10 shots and getting four assists in 31 minutes.
He was in facilitator mode most of the time, apparently buying into the game plan of feeding the big men, for better or worse.It didn't exactly work.Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum had identical stats, each scoring 13 points on five-for-10 shooting, not nearly enough of a boost against a young, frothing Thunder defense.The Lakers wanted more free throws after a large disparity in Game 3, but they wasted too many trips to the line in Game 4 to justify much of anything, making only 17 of 28 free throws (60.7%).
Oklahoma City was 42 for 48 from the line and almost tied the Lakers' playoff opponent record of 43 made free throws by Boston in 1984.Bryant made one of two free throws in Game 4 after not getting there at all in Game 3.Lakers Coach Phil Jackson is 44-0 in a playoff series when his teams win Game 1, but that streak doesn't look as stable as it did a week ago.Jackson was hopeful before the game that Ron Artest or Lamar Odom would step up, saying Gasol and Bryant needed "a couple guys to chip in and help out."Odom had 12 points and Artest had five points on two-for-nine shooting, continuing to miss three-point shots at an alarming rate, now three for 23 in the series (13%) after missing all four of his long-distance attempts Saturday.The first quarter had belonged firmly to the Lakers this series, but then came Saturday, the Thunder grabbing a 29-17 lead.
Bryant had no points and no shots in the quarter as the Lakers began trying to pound the ball down low, with varying degrees of success.The Thunder led by 15 when Bryant took his a first shot, a successful three-pointer, with 9:06 left in the second quarter.The Lakers were still in trouble early in the third quarter, down 58-42 after Thabo Sefolosha made three free-throw attempts after being fouled by Bryant on a shot beyond the arc.It only got worse for the Lakers.All the talk before the game was about getting the ball down low."We have to make sure we make ourselves big enough targets so our guards feel comfortable throwing those passes in there," Gasol said beforehand.The Lakers outscored the Thunder in the paint, 44-36, but the Thunder practically ran them off the court, destroying them in fastbreak points, 24-2.Bad night for the Lakers in a series that's also heading that way for them.
The Lakers didn't lose as much as they were flattened at Ford Center, 110-89, trailing by as many as 29 while their best-of-seven series was tied up at 2-2.Kobe Bryant had only 12 points, their plan to pound the ball down low was fully unsuccessful, and a top-seeded team has lost a series to an eighth-seeded team only three times in 52 chances in NBA history, a reality that needed to be revisited after another Lakers flop.Game 5 is Tuesday at Staples Center, perhaps the only kind words to be said about the Lakers on Saturday.Bryant had a peculiar game, making five of 10 shots and getting four assists in 31 minutes.
He was in facilitator mode most of the time, apparently buying into the game plan of feeding the big men, for better or worse.It didn't exactly work.Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum had identical stats, each scoring 13 points on five-for-10 shooting, not nearly enough of a boost against a young, frothing Thunder defense.The Lakers wanted more free throws after a large disparity in Game 3, but they wasted too many trips to the line in Game 4 to justify much of anything, making only 17 of 28 free throws (60.7%).
Oklahoma City was 42 for 48 from the line and almost tied the Lakers' playoff opponent record of 43 made free throws by Boston in 1984.Bryant made one of two free throws in Game 4 after not getting there at all in Game 3.Lakers Coach Phil Jackson is 44-0 in a playoff series when his teams win Game 1, but that streak doesn't look as stable as it did a week ago.Jackson was hopeful before the game that Ron Artest or Lamar Odom would step up, saying Gasol and Bryant needed "a couple guys to chip in and help out."Odom had 12 points and Artest had five points on two-for-nine shooting, continuing to miss three-point shots at an alarming rate, now three for 23 in the series (13%) after missing all four of his long-distance attempts Saturday.The first quarter had belonged firmly to the Lakers this series, but then came Saturday, the Thunder grabbing a 29-17 lead.
Bryant had no points and no shots in the quarter as the Lakers began trying to pound the ball down low, with varying degrees of success.The Thunder led by 15 when Bryant took his a first shot, a successful three-pointer, with 9:06 left in the second quarter.The Lakers were still in trouble early in the third quarter, down 58-42 after Thabo Sefolosha made three free-throw attempts after being fouled by Bryant on a shot beyond the arc.It only got worse for the Lakers.All the talk before the game was about getting the ball down low."We have to make sure we make ourselves big enough targets so our guards feel comfortable throwing those passes in there," Gasol said beforehand.The Lakers outscored the Thunder in the paint, 44-36, but the Thunder practically ran them off the court, destroying them in fastbreak points, 24-2.Bad night for the Lakers in a series that's also heading that way for them.
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