TEAM RECORDS: Oklahoma City Thunder (47-19) vs Los Angeles Lakers (41-25)
SEASON SERIES: Oklahoma City Thunder (2-1)
LAST SERIES: Oklahoma City Thunder (2) defeated Dallas Mavericks (7) in 4 games / Los Angeles Lakers (3) defeated Denver Nuggets (6) in 7 games
KEY MATCHUP: Kevin Durant vs Kobe Bryant
PREVIEW
Let’s be honest with ourselves. While Kevin Durant vs Kobe Bryant is the marquee matchup of the series, I think the on-court reunion of one James Harden and Metta World Peace will be a tad more interesting.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have been sitting at home for the past week awaiting the winner of the Nuggets/Lakers series. The fact that those 2 teams took their series to 7 games will be a huge advantage for the Thunder.
Oklahoma City is rested while the Lakers barely escaped with their playoff lives in game 7.
I also forgot to mention that Thunder backup point guard Derek Fisher will be making his return to Los Angeles, but as a member of the opposition. He hit nearly 60% of his shots in the first round. He will certainly be motivated to take it to his old team in this series.
Kobe Bryant will need to have better showings than he did against OKC in the regular season. He never shot better than 34% during their 3 matchups. On the other hand, Kevin Durant averaged almost 30 points a game. Kobe will need to keep pace with Durant on the scoring hand, especially with the rest of his teammates being so unreliable as of late.
Overall, the Lakers should be worried. The Thunder are basically the Nuggets but with 3 star players. They play an up-tempo offense and love to run their opponents off the court. That’s not Lakers basketball. They either need to conform to the Thunders style of play or face a quick elimination in this semi-final matchup.
THE THUNDER WILL WIN THIS SERIES IF they force feed the ball to Russell Westbrook. Kevin Durant is the best player on the Thunder, but OKC have a clear-cut advantage at the point guard position with Westbrook against Sessions/Blake. Neither player is capable of playing above-average defense (as evident by Ty Lawson in the first round), so Westbrook should get plenty of looks early on in this series to force the Lakers to try to defend him. That will be easier said than done.
THE LAKERS WILL WIN THIS SERIES IF Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol get (excuse my language) their heads out of their collective asses. The Nuggets series was a prime example of how inconsistent the 2 big men are. Gasol had 2 games where he scored 10 or fewer points and 5 where he scored less than 15. Andrew Bynum got his shots, but he was clearly lazy at times on defense and didn’t show the urgency needed when competing in the postseason. Kobe Bryant came out on more than one occasion and called out his teammates for their lack of effort. The Oklahoma City Thunder are not the Denver Nuggets. That lackadaisical style of play won’t cut it against arguably the best team in the conference. The effort of both Gasol and Bynum has to be taken to another level in this series if the Lakers want to keep it close.
FUN FACT: The Thunder led the league in turnovers during the regular season (16.0). The Lakers were dead last in turnovers forced (10.9).
PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
Game 1 – Monday May 14 | 5:30 PM pst | Lakers at Thunder | TNT
Game 2 – Wednesday May 16 | 5:30 PM pst | Lakers at Thunder | TNT
Game 3 – Friday May 18 | 7:30 PM pst | Thunder at Lakers | ESPN
Game 4 – Saturday May 19 | 7:30 PM pst | Thunder at Lakers | TNT
Game 5 * – Monday May 21 | Time TBD | Lakers at Thunder | TNT
Game 6 * – Wednesday May 23 | Time TBD | Thunder at Lakers | ESPN
Game 7 * – Sunday May 27 | Time TBD | Lakers at Thunder | TNT
FINAL STAFF PREDICTIONS
Editor Christopher Walder: Oklahoma City Thunder in 6
Writer Jason Leung: Oklahoma City Thunder in 6
Writer John Armstrong: Los Angeles Lakers in 7
Writer Joe Nardone: Los Angeles Lakers in 7
Writer Mike Owens: Los Angeles Lakers in 7
Christopher Walder is a sports blogger and lead editor for Sir Charles in Charge. You may follow him on Twitter @WalderSports