By Kyle Soppe
The Thunder are the team to beat in the West, and they proved it once again on Thursday night, as they beat the Lakers 102-93.
Much has been made about Russell Westbrook’s style of play, but Westbrook proved he can do it all last night. He poured in 36 points, improving the Thunder’s record to 10-4 when he goes for at least 30 points. Point guards that shoot as often as Westbrook are scrutinized, but he is their second best scoring option, and when he plays with that mindset, the Thunder are at their best. He also filled the typical point guard role, as he handed out six assists and only committed one turnover. OKC has yet to lose a game in which Westbrook has recorded one or fewer turnovers.
Thabo Sefolosha scored five points in 13 seconds in the first quarter, and didn’t score for the other 25:53 he was on the court. In fact, he only took one more shot. Seflolsha (who has improved his scoring touch from the perimeter) is the teams best defender, and on such a high scoring team, that is a key role: any offense from him is a bonus.
Kevin Durant has stepped up his passing of late, recording 5+ assists in five of his last seven games, with the Thunder winning each one of those games. Slightly discouraging was Durant’s 0 free throw attempts, something that hadn’t happened this year. From time to time KD settles for jump shots, but as the NBA leader in free throw attempts in past seasons, his 0 free throws isn’t likely to be a trend. Besides, him settling for jumpers isn’ t that bad of a thing, as he has nailed a triple in 23 straight contests.
The Thunder didn’t get an above average from Durant and got a woeful game from James Harden, but managed to pull this game out. Harden had his worst game of the season, as he recorded five fouls, had four shots blocked, and missed eight of 11 field goal attempts. The Thunder were outscored by six points when Harden was on the court, and beat the Lakers by 15 when he was on the pine.
After the beginning minutes of action, the Lakers held a lead for a consecutive 20 minutes and 24 seconds. Once they lost the lead, they didn’t regain it for the games final 21 minutes and 16 seconds. It is often said that basketball is “a game of runs”, but this game was made up of a run for both teams.
Andrew Bynum didn’t jack up another three pointer, allowing Laker nation to watch him dominate on the interior. Los Angeles is 2-2 in games in which the seven footer shoots a three, and 30-18 when he doesn’t. The stats tell you what should be assumed: they are a better team when he spends his time in the paint, not the perimeter.
Kobe Bryant didn’t record a single turnover for the first time this season in almost 41 minutes of action. This is a bit deceiving, as Sefolosha put so much pressure on Bryant that he couldn’t make any dangerous passes. The suffocating defense held Bryant to 23 points on 28% shooting, and the Lakers won’t win a playoff series if Bryant is shooting 28% (even if he doesn’t turn the ball over).
Metta World Peace took 10+ shots for the fourth time this month (16 games). He has tried to step up his offensive game, but this team was better in the early going, where World Peace took 10+ shots only once in the teams first 32 games.
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