It’s not as if I didn’t pick the Oklahoma City Thunder to come out of the west at the top of the season. So at some point, that meant the Lakers would be going fishing. But, the act of watching the Lakers go out is painful. The Thunder are just the better team. They have been all season. The Lakers have the formula to beat them (that was obvious in the fact that the Lakers should’ve been up 3 games to 1 but lost 2 of those games in the fourth quarter.) But the Thunder are to fast and the Lakers don’t have enough firepower.
Kobe Bryant came out like the Black Mamba, 42 points, 5 rebounds and 0 assists- with not a single damn given as to how you feel about that stat line. The Lakers needed his passion tonight. He’s a warrior. Feel how you want to about it.
He also managed to avoid throwing any teammates under the bus in the postgame conference. He said he felt Pau was aggressive and got open looks although, he did note that the benefit of the whistle was not in Gasol’s favor. Gasol finished the night with 14 points and 16 rebounds in what could very well be his last game as a Laker.
Kobe had 2 fouls in the first quarter- almost three – and Andrew Bynum had 2 in the first as well. For Bynum, perhaps this early foul trouble is what caused him to shrink during the game. He never seemed to truly get going and ended the night with four rebounds. While many will point to Kobe’s 0 assists as to why a the team didn’t flourish, I will also say that 4 rebounds from your all-star center in a closeout game is unacceptable. He ended the night with 10 points.
As for the point guard spot? Russell Westbrook ROLLED over both the Lakers pg’s. This shot, illustrates what type of night it was for Russ.
Thunder over Lakers 106-90. Needless to say, #THUNDERUP as they face off against the Spurs next round.
video via Jose 3030
