Lakers v. Thunder Preview

After a demoralizing series against the fast-paced Nuggets, the road to a championship has just begun for the Lakers. Tonight, at 6:30 PT on TNT in Oklahoma City, the Lakers will square off against the Thunder. The Thunder will be a much more difficult task than the Nuggets. In many ways though, the Thunder are the 2.0 version of the Nuggets; a fast-paced, high-scoring team with slashers who attack the hoop and shooters to space the floor, only more consistent.  Just as we had problems containing the Nuggets rapid pace, those problems will continue this series as both teams are built similarily in that respect. But no matter how similar those two teams play, this series will be a lot more intense than the first series. This series is loaded with subplots.

Here are a couple things I’ll be for watching specifically.

• If Nick Collison has a good game, the Lakers cannot win. His productivity is an indication of sloppy rebounding and lazy defense. There is no way he should be competing for rebounds with Bynum and Gasol on paper, but if he does, we’ll know that it was because of a lack of effort. His contribution will be similar to Faried’s was last series, although to a lesser extent.
• I’m worried about Daequan Cook. The Lakers have trouble closing out on shooters so I would not be surprised if he has a couple big games this series, specifically in transition where he will get plenty of open looks from beyond the arc.
• Who will step up from the Lakers bench? Blake’s confidence has to be sky high because of his stellar performance in Game 7, but I’m not sure how much that will carry over to this series. Either him or Barnes have to come off the bench and make significant offensive contributions.

Subplots

1. At this point, we’re all familiar with the infamous chest-pounding turned elbow flinging by The Metta World Peace. In a recent interview, Metta said he wouldn’t be shaking hands with Harden because  he, “doesn’t shake hands with substitutes.” From Harden’s response, it doesn’t seem as if those words bother him at all. And, honestly, why should they? Harden is the best 6th man in the league. Despite Metta’s rift at Harden, I can’t see either one taking a shot at each other. Metta knows he ‘s on a shorter leash than an enraged pitbull at a park filled with children and the Lakers can’t afford to not have him for this series. As for Harden, he just doesn’t seem like the type to pick a fight with someone. That’s just my impression.
2. THERE WILL BE A SCUFFLE between Andrew Bynum/Pau Gasol and Kendrick Perkins at some point this series that is one grey pube on Bynum’s head away from escalating into a full blown fist fight. Perkins has been dishing smack about Pau for years now. The two flat out do not like each other but I don’t see Pau boldly confronting Perkins the way Bynum would. Perkins aggressive play will undoubtedly frustrate Bynum which WILL result in a shoving match at the very least.
3. The return of Derek Fisher will be a tough pill for Laker fans to swallow. We love him. Now the last few years he was a zombie throughout the regular season, but in the playoffs we knew Fisher would come up clutch in crunch time. He’s done it for years and has the hardware to prove it. So when Kevin Durant is being double teamed while you play doo-doo jump, we can only hope that the one guy we leave open is not Derek Fisher. I rather have Westbrook take the shot rather than Fish.
4. Because the Thunder have inherited the history of the Seattle Supersonics since 2008, if the Lakers do win the series, Ice Cube’s bold prediction 19 years ago would still apply stat nerds.
5. We’ll finally get to see if the Thunder have the kahunas to sit at Kobe’s lunch table.