vs. 
LA Lakers (2-2, 2-0 home) vs. Okla. City Thunder (2-2, 0-2 road)
TV: TNT (Cox 31, HD 730)
Stream: Click here
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM, 97.1 FM Tulsa)
Time: 9:30 CDT
Series: Series tied at 2-2
View from the enemy: Forum Blue and Gold
Ready for a gross understatement, accompanied by a scary stat? This game is absolutely critical. In the NBA’s history, the team that wins Game 5 with a series tied 2-2 wins the series 83 percent of the time. And Phil Jackson is 15-0 in these situation. Aren’t we feeling good now?
But you know what? I’m not afraid. I don’t necessarily think Oklahoma City will win tonight, but I don’t think it’s impossible. The Thunder completely had LA’s number the two games. And that was puntuacted by Game 4. The Thunder have settled in and have begun to figure out playoff basketball a bit. Remember, we’re a Kevin Durant 3-pointer away from being up 3-1.
Of course winning in Staples tonight will be extremely difficult. Everyone knows the foul shooting differential that was widened in OKC. I’m sure the whistle will tilt toward the Lakers tonight and that’s to be expected. But in the two games at the Ford Center, the officiating didn’t necessarily lean towards the Thunder out of favortism, but mainly because OKC forced their hand. LA shot jumpers. The Thunder flew at the rim like a flock of crazed seagulls.
So how can OKC get it done tonight? Three things:
1. Take the Ford Center to LA. This is easier said than done but the team we saw in Games 3 and 4 was nothing like the stunned team in Games 1 and 2. Despite playing the Lakers close in Game 2, we didn’t see that Thunder team we all love until there was about two minutes left in the first half. The Thunder have made the Lakers look old and slow by getting out in transition and constantly attacking the paint. A stat: OKC is outscoring the Lakers 72-17 in transition in this series. The Thunder need to play loose, play fast and play like they’ve got nothing to lose. It’s what they did in Loud City and that’s got to make the flight to LA.
2. The bench has to keep producing. Again, a major difference in the wins and losses. This is punctuated by James Harden who went from not scoring to averaging 15 a game at home. I think he’s found a groove and he’s actually be a good road player all season. Serge Ibaka was the only bench player to even breathe in Los Angeles in Games 1 and 2, so Eric Maynor, Harden and Nick Collison must show up.
3. R-E-R-E-B-R-E-B-O-U-N-D. In the two losses, the Lakers have dominated the glass. In the two wins, OKC has dominated the glass. See a pattern here? When OKC rebounds, it can run. It’s hard to get out on a break if you don’t grab a defensive rebound after a miss. It’s also tough to run if the ball is getting knocked around and tipped and batted before you finally get it. KD and Westbrook have done an excellent job helping in this department.
Scott Brooks has made the necessary adjustments to get his team to this point. Now it’s just about playing loose and having fun. Forget about the pressure of the moment. Worry about that tomorrow. Just get on the floor and play. OKC can win this thing, I’m convinced. Will they? Well, I’m not so sure about that.
Tip at 9:30 CDT. Go Together.
What I want to know is why is Ibaka not starting instead of Krstic?
Just look at the point differential between Krstic & Ibaka
Game 1 Krstic (-10) vs Ibaka (- 1)
Game 2 Krstic (- 4) vs Ibaka (+ 6)
Game 3 Krstic (-14) vs Ibaka (+ 8)
Game 4 Krstic (+11) vs Ibaka (+14)
Game 5 Krstic (-24) vs Ibaka (+ 4)
Lakers have two big men inside. Ibaka shuts them down, Krstic does not. Krstic flubs a lot of touched rebounds and cannot jump. Although Krstic has keen sense for where to be when, he's at the end of his days abilitywise. He gets along OK against most teams, but cannot compete with the Lakers whose double-whammy with Gasol/Bynum or even Gasol/Odom is the real Thunder out there. Mark my word, OKC will not stand a chance in the next two games now that the Lakers are exploiting this mismatch. Scott Brooks needs to start the players who are appropriate matches for the opponent, not the players he deems deserving to start based on loyalty to the player. Team comes first. The chief reason OKC starts out each game in point deficit is directly tied to Krstic's inability to stop the Lakers' Tandem Inside Thunder. Conversely, Ibaka (E-BLOCKA) shuts them down.
Ryan :Where is all the people that wrote a book about how the Thunder was going to win last night? All I read was how great the Tunder was and how old and crappy the lakers were. All prisoners of the moment. The Lakers are the better team. Period.
Do you really think this game is representative of both teams? That the Lakers will hold OKC to 25% shooting again in a first half or the Lakers will shoot 65% again in a first half?
Lakers are a better team but the gap between the teams is still small for a 1st v. 8th seed. We just got blown out but people seem to forgetting we blew this team out just a few days before. It happens.
Where is all the people that wrote a book about how the Thunder was going to win last night? All I read was how great the Tunder was and how old and crappy the lakers were. All prisoners of the moment. The Lakers are the better team. Period.
Man, even our troll sucks tonight.
36% from the floor is just horrible
@cashion
I remember running behind the bus after a horrible baseball game.
Thunder need to ride the bus home after that performance.
@JelloPuddinPup
JJ is actually pretty decent. Ammo is just a scrub
Well, we won the last quarter. Oh well, goodnight all.
@mason
He may be sub-par in the NBA, but Ammo > 99.9% of the basketball playing population. He is still a professional basketball player.
The last year I really watched college basketball regularly was the year him and JJ were going back and forth in scoring battles. That was a fun year. It's a shame neither has had a better career than they have had in the pros.
i just watched the adam morrison "i will make people cry" commercial. i think thats what he was asking etan after he fouled him. you crying yet?? lol adam morrison sucks so bad its funny
I really think Lee would be better defensively at PF than Green if nothing else just because of his defensive rebounding.
We've seen defense can be taught...
@justin
injury prone is not presti style
@Ryan
its not like lee is a step back on defense, just no better, and we still have 2 draft picks where we could grab a defensive center
One option that's really risky is Andris Biedrins.. Warriors might give him up cheap but considering his injuries and mental block at the line this year dunno if he's worth the roster spot at this point.
@justin
Its a tough call, but Lee certainly has merits. I think we both agree that something needs to happen on the front line for this team to take the proverbial "next step" but we shall see what Presti thinks. Don't get me wrong, I like Lee Im just concerned that we will lock ourselves in to struggling against big strong front lines and end up like the suns with all our offensive weapons.
f5alcon :will camby get more then an MLE? If not maybe we can get him and lee if we can trade krstic or collison.
Camby was already extended.
lol what the hell is adam morrison doing
will camby get more then an MLE? If not maybe we can get him and lee if we can trade krstic or collison.
@JelloPuddinPup
Well maybe he can learn but I wouldn't expect it any time soon...
Brendan Haywood is an option I like but he's going to get a lot more than he's worth from Dallas since Dampier will not return there. He's a good defensive player... Rick Carlisle FINALLY started him and he owned Tim Duncan tonight.
@justin
Maybe we can lure a Marcin Gortat or Brenden Haywood here?
Also, we don't know if Ibaka can really pass yet do we? I know he definitely doesn't look like he can yet but with us not really have a structured offense yet maybe he just needs to know more of where the cuts will be made to learn where to pass? I dunno, kinda spitballing there.
lee is the best option for price/performance. He is worth the risk. Its not like there are better defensive centers available right now and cap is use it or lose it.
@JelloPuddinPup
I don't like Ibaka at PF because he's a ball stopper and doesn't really pass.. in that scenario we'd need a good passing center and those are the hardest to find. Marcus Camby would have been perfect for that.
@Ryan
Green won't be on a rookie contract much longer.
The only other way to fix the offense is to get Harden in there and hope he promotes ball movement, and just institute some kind of game plan in the half court.
Also, take the ball out of Kevin Durant's hands. Kevin Durant's usage has been way too high. His shot selection really regresses when he's struggling, which is weird, you'd think it'd be the other way around.. Harden with the starting unit would give us a secondary ball handler we really need.
Those are the two options.. Presti can use the $$$ to snag a defensive center and continue to start Jeff Green or get one of the offensive minded PF's (Jefferson, Lee) and try to make something work at C. I'm not sure which is the best option but I'd lean toward the offensive minded PF... if we wait and do nothing we're stuff with iterations of Green / Ibaka and Krstic / Green and Collison / Ibaka which isn't optimal at all.
@justin
I agree with you.
Lee is better than Green in PF,he is 20+10 guy now and we need a big man to get rebound and a good scorer because KD is only one in thunder now.
And he is cheaper than bosh or Amare.I hope a big name PF can join thunder but it is a dream.
Ammo is in the game. Now it's officially an ass kicking.
@justin
Also, Collison is a great help defender but is completly overwhelmed against skilled big men and doesnt block shots. Ibaka is still raw defenisively. It is not like you have an all-defensive big man to help out Lee(or Green).
@justin
Okay, I'll agree with some of that. I still don't know that David Lee is 'that' much better than JG offensively (too much difference in focus/structure/style of play for their respective teams to say with good accuracy), but I'll say he can't be any worse on D.
However, I do hope that if we get a replacement for him that we do it before we extend him because it would suck to be paying him start money to come off the bench.
I still think our best option is could get an upgrade at center if possible and hope that Ibaka can improve enough to become starter at PF. I think he'd be a great PF on both O & especially D. We could then approach an offensive minded center and Ibaka could back him up on D more.
I think we'd have a pretty good caliber bench w/ JG coming off of it. Maybe he could thrive as a 6th man option? Someone who can come in when someone gets in foul trouble and provide a spark but wouldn't have to be relied on as a starter. Just a thought.
@justin
David Lee is a bad defender, but you are right Green is a bad defender at the four. What you are not taking into consideration though is Green is on his rookie contract. If you go with Lee, you are putting your eggs in that basket long term with significant salary implications. I think you can only make the move if you are confident Ibaka will develop into a solid defense center in the future and Im not sure of that.
idk. id lik
@andrew
he can break some faces
What is the point of etan playing ahead of mullens at this point.
@JelloPuddinPup
Even if you presume he can't play defense, what's the big deal? We have two big guys (Collison, Ibaka) who can. It's EASY to find a big guy who can body up and defend, it's not easy to find one who is as dynamic offensively as David Lee.
Our team is a good defensive team. We need help on offense. Is Presti going to hold out for that big man who plays great defense and can contribute offensively? If so, he's going to be waiting a long time. Even if David Lee wouldn't improve our defense at PF at all, he'd still make this team infinitely better because he's a better defensive rebounder than anyone we have. Jeff Green can't defend at PF or rebound at the position... at least Lee can grab the rebounds, and help initiate those fast breaks.
There is no way David Lee could be worse than Jeff Green defensively at PF. Green is consistently rated as one of the worst at his position defensively (not his fault, he's out of position). Lee would have the benefit of moving to his natural position and playing with at least another good defender.
Earl Barron was part of Miami's D-League superstars in their tank season. He's horrible..
maybe BJ mullens can bring us back?
david lee can rebound at least
@JelloPuddinPup
It will be an interesting offseason. I dont know for sure that Ibaka should start, but I dont think you can run Krstic and Green out there at the four and five again and win many playoff series. If you keep Green at the four you need Ibaka at the five.
i cant watch anymore
@Dylan
And stop clinging to kristic and green as starters?
@justin
If we can't presume that Ibaka can start next season,
Why can we presume that Lee can play defense for another team?
justin :@Bob
The defense isn’t going to improve no matter what if you’re putting a D-Leaguer at center in his place…
That D-Leaguer has NBA experience and he played well. David Lee is no way a solution for the thunder.
I am ready to see some Mullens!
@justin
maybe before now and then we'll install a play on offense?
I said it before game seven is the game to win... if we win game six, it's only a one day rest for the Lakers until game seven and we'll have momentum again.
Team has to learn from this.
@Chirag
We play tight on the road.
I like how we we can hit 3's when we are down by 30
@muppets
You do realize that both LA and OKC had the EXACT same road record this year don't you? And as of right now, both teams struggle from the same problem. Neither can beat the other on the road. Kinda a catch-22 except for the fact that even if both teams keep winning home games it ends at 7. Just sayin'.
The DON :
HAHAHAHA, I love it when westbrook blows a play he always runs back down the court acting like he is injured
You're such a bad fan.
@Bob
The defense isn't going to improve no matter what if you're putting a D-Leaguer at center in his place...
Woooooow, KD looks so bad tonight