Welcome in to the full recap of the Lakers' Thursday night matchup vs. the Oklahoma City where the Lakers took full advantage of Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony's absence, beating down the Thunder 81-106.
This recent win against the Thunder is not too much of an attention grabber like the last time these two teams played in OKC. But with all the hoopla before the trade deadline today, the Lakers came out just fine despite being short handed as well. This game was basically Paul George vs. the Lakers. He put on a showing in the first half and got some cheers at introduction. L.A. gave him love tonight. Somehow, the NBA will fine Magic and the Lakers $50K again for tampering. But going back, no Clarkson, no Nance, no problem. The Lakers still played their brand of basketball with a little wrinkle with the way the three-point game went tonight.
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Three-point shooting. The Lakers connected on 30% of their shots from 3-point land. It's not an eye-opening stat, but for the last three quarters, they were on target. At one point in the 2nd quarter, the Lakers were 6/9 from deep. Brandon Ingram hit three 3's. KCP also connected on three 3's. B.I., KCP, Hart, and Kuz accounted for a majority of the Lakers' shots from deep.
Julius Randle, 17 points, 8-16 shooting. I was a little concerned about how Randle would play considering the deadline passed. But clearly, he has that max contract still in his head in a contract year, which is a good thing. The Thunder did not have the man power to match this man beast in the paint. Randle had his way with the bully ball tonight.
Brandon Ingram, 19 points, 6 assists, 7-11 shooting, 3-4 three pointers. Not only is Ingram doing a fantastic job balancing the aggressiveness in scoring and facilitating, but he's getting more confident with his 3-point shooting. He had a minor hiccup with the airball somewhere in the 4th quarter. But, other than that, Ingram still had a solid, efficient game.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, 20 points, 7 rebounds, 7-10 shooting. KCP had to step up as a scorer considering how short-handed this Laker team is with Clarkson and Nance no longer on the squad and playing alongside Josh Hart. He delivered tonight.
Kyle Kuzma, 16 points, 9 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 blocks. Say hello to the new sixth man until Isaiah Thomas touches down in LA. Kuzma was projected to carry a heavy load with the 2nd unit. Turned out to not be a problem as he still showed off the scoring prowess. He also displayed a solid showing on the defensive end too. That's the knack on his game currently and for a small sample size, he displayed his defensive ability with a couple of blocks and a steal.
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Not a lot of negatives to point out. Probably a few minor ones, but a sound victory like this completely masks them.
MVP
Kuzma is slowly getting back to form in these last two games. As I said, Clarkson and Nance are not there to provide the instant spark for the 2nd unit, so it was all up to Kuz. It was a not a problem offensively. He showed some potential too on the defensive end with the one steal and the pair of blocks.
Conclusion
The Lakers continue their upward trend and it's impressive to see this young continuing the winning ways despite losing a few fan-favorite young pieces. You gotta wonder, after this game, does Paul George want to stick around with OKC after the Lakers notched two consecutive games against the Thunder? This is an eye-opener that without their OK3 at full strength, the Thunder lack depth. And like last game, this makes Paul George's free agency a lot more challenging. We'll see what happens in the offeseason. But back to this game, Lakers get their eighth straight game at home and fourth win in a row. Again, I'll hold back on my hopes that the Lakers will make the playoffs, but the upward trend and their recent veteran additions will continue to heat up the talk. It's going to be interesting to see Isaiah Thomas and Channing Frye debut for the purple and gold possibly on Saturday against the Mavs, especially IT. Reggie Miller said it best, IT is going to have to sacrifice a bit to integrate himself into the system that emphasizes on sharing the ball. The "King in the Fourth" arrives on Saturday. Expect a quick fact check and commentary post on that game. Speaking of that, I was supposed to have the post of Tuesday night's game against the Suns posted last night. But, I didn't realize it was still saved in the draft. I'll provide that tomorrow with a slight modification of my commentary after today's trade deadline. I'll see you guys later for the next nationally televised game.
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