Lakers vs. Thunder Showdown

February 27, 2011 - The trade deadline is over. The all-star break is over. The second half of the season is well underhand. And the Lakers, who lost their last 3 games prior to the break, have now won 4 straight games. They beat the Oklahoma City Thunder by a score of 90 to 87 Sunday afternoon. The Lakers are now 4 and a half games ahead of the Thunder in the standings in the West.

A big game for Pau Gasol, but he still isn't as physical as he should be

Pau Gasol led the Lakers with 18 points and 11 rebounds as Kobe had 17 points and Bynum had 16. Luckily, Kendrick Perkins, who was acquired in a trade from the Boston Celtics by the Thunder, did not play in the game because he will still be out for 2-3 weeks due to injury.

From my standpoint, this was a close win for the Lakers in a game where they looked pretty sloppy. Although they held the Thunder to only 39 points in the second half, I saw a lot of bad passes, terrible defense, poor shot selection, and a loss of energy. I am honestly afraid of what the Thunder have the potential to do to teams when they get Kendrick Perkins healthy. Even though Gasol had a double double, I noticed he fumbles the ball way too much. He gets out-rebounded by much smaller guys too, like he gives no effort on the inside because he is so weak and not physical at all. I really wished the Lakers would have tried to get a strong big man in a trade. I would give Gasol and a 1st round pick for Dwight Howard of the Magic!

In other news during the game, the electrifying Kobe Bryant passed Elvin Hayes to become 7th on the NBA All-Time scoring list. What a great accomplishment, and my congrats go out to him.

Either way, I'm glad the LAke Show got a crucial win over the Thunder. Every win helps in the second half of the season. I just hope the intensity gets lifted higher, as it was in the 3rd quarter of the game where they held the Thunder to 23% FG. The Lakers play the Minnesota Timberwolves on the road, Tuesday March 1st.