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It’s official: Lakers versus Thunder in the second round.
It took seven games, but the Lakers finally finished off the Nuggets 96-87 to move on. And now they have to take on the waiting Thunder just two days later, after Oklahoma City has been resting for nine days.
Obviously the fact that the older Lakers had to press so much to advance should benefit the Thunder, but then again, I remember OKC waiting on a Memphis team last season that didn’t have much time off and the Thunder dropping a clunker in Game 1 while the Grizzlies didn’t miss a beat.
A quick review: The Thunder went 2-1 against the Lakers this season with a 15-point win and nine-point win, with the loss being in double-overtime with James Harden missing the entire second half.
A lot of this series will clearly hinge on the health of Kendrick Perkins as there’s no one better in the game at guarding Andrew Bynum. All indications are that Perk should be ready to go for Game 1. It’s just a matter of how ready he’ll be.
More thoughts to come of course, but it’s time to start thinking about basketball again. A lot of storylines, but forget that stuff. It’s time to play, which means it’s time to win.
Game 1 is Monday at 8:30 CT in Oklahoma City. Finally, it’s time for round two for the Thunder.
Indiana has gotta shoot real efficient, and keep contesting 3's then i can see them stealing this.
Got my tickets ready for Game 3 and 4 here in L.A!!! Hopefully the Clippers win so I can go to the WCF!
ThunderUp!
@SoCal Thunder Where did you find them? I've been looking all morning for a reasonable price.
@MarshallBD bought them on ticket exchange....definitely overpayed for them but I figured they will just get more expensive as he day gets closer.
pressure busts pipes
22-19, 7 min to go in the 2nd.
Trash.
This game is brutal. God so bad.
This game is so terrible, i'd rather watch soccer
I don't know how to feel about this game. Blake is an incredible player, but annoying at times. I love Caron Butler, but I increasingly dislike Chris Paul. I like Eric Bledsoe, Mo Williams, and Nick Young, but I HATE Vinny Del Negro and the Clippers ownership group. And Memphis is interesting, but I don't see any reason to want them to win. No idea who to root for.
@Jo_Cro HADDADI
http://www.dailythunder.com/2012/05/world-peace-says-he-wont-shake-james-hardens-hand/#more-20260
watching the clippers makes me sick. guess 5 steps are the new norm in basketball huh refs
Everyone in San Antonio cheers for the Clippers today
Those yellow towels really highlight all the empty seats. What's up Memphis?
Church people coming in late?
@todayisbananas They thought they already lost and there was no Game 7.
Though it is an unpopular stance, I'd like to state my support for the Clippers today. Thank you, and good afternoon.
Trolls and fake trolls alike are getting annoying.
Harden has learned a valuable lesson. Don't be a flopping crybaby and you won't get smacked by a legit old school player.
@MyWittlePony Good point. Lakers take out fakers.
@lakathug @MyWittlePony True bro.
@MyWittlePony you sure your name isn't MyWittlePenis?
@C_Dub @MyWittlePony That used to be my name. It was an ironic name.
@MyWittlePony @C_Dub
ironic . . . or amusing coincidence?
@MyWittlePony @C_Dub No more comments from you bro
Double as needed off Artest to contain Gasol and Bynum. I don't think Bryant will be the decisive player.
anyone else feel like we will get LA's best shot and this is going 6 or 7? I know Denver took them to 7, but they were missing World Peace and they took them lightly.
@dream catcher nope. we have more motivation to win. you dont think our guys havent read artest articles, know what the lakers did to them, know whats at stake. Our guys wanna win, they are hungry. Bring on the lakers.
More important than Perkins on Bynum is not letting scrubs like Blake or MWP score like they did against Denver last night.
@justin_mia Fisher won't let Blake go off consistently I can guarantee it. Im more worried about Artest getting inside Durant's head, and taking him out of the game.
@dream catcher @justin_mia I'm not worried, the thunder have three legit perimiter scorers they can go to, while the lakers only have 2 guys (kobe and artest) to defend them.
A best case defensive situation for LA is that kobe shuts down harden, Artest durant. and bynum the rim. Allowing west brook to shoot mid range jumpers, However During the dallas series westbrook not only showed his significant improvement hitting these. he also started to find ibaka on rondo/rose style wrap around passes
@dream catcher @justin_mia artest hasnt been a factor on durant all year. plus i can see harden going off and dropping 20-30 on the fakers.
@justin_mia as i said, if blake didnt go off 5-6 from 3, denver would of won that. I hope russ doesnt gamble with blake. If fisher is in, at least he knows how to guard him. Artest..hehe..i think he might crack from being booed every time hes on the court :P or heres hoping he does.
@justin_mia Single covering Bynum affects that.
http://espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2012/matchup/_/teams/thunder-lakers
The espn basketball analysts have made there picks. Everybody but one has thunder, but the guy who said lakers have them in 6. That same guy also had the spurs in 7 against the jazz...
http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/7924698/2012-nba-playoffs-los-angeles-lakers-metta-world-peace-not-planning-acknowledge-james-harden
This article has some of the same Artest quotes as the yahoo article...but it also as several even more inflamatory quotes. Talk about bulletin board material. OKC - no, the entire state - is going to be hyped up beyond belief.
@soonerstatestud he is the definition of psychopath. not all psychopaths are killers. It just means he has no sympathy for anyone other than himself. To claim that harden LIKES to flop doesnt justify elbowing the shit out of him. Ron artest, you are officially my most hated NBA player, and thats saying a LOT.
@soonerstatestud I hope KD torches MWP every game in this series. Man, talk about no remorse for the elbow. Refs better call all the holds he does on KD..
@soonerstatestud ill never have respect for lakers, and their fans that support a freaking idiot like artest.
@soonerstatestud Just bought my overpriced tickets, but I couldn't be happier! :)
"I don't want support for what I did," World Peace said. "I still love my fans, but I don't want to be supported for (that). Even though he came and ran up behind me and he's done that before to Tyson Chandler and other players and he flopped even in the series (against Dallas) in the first round, but I don't want support for that."
please tell me we will see more Harden on the ball with Westbrook and Durant on his wings. That seems like a impossible matchup to defend yet we hardly run it.
Brooks cannot allow Sessions and Blake to just coast while defending Thabo in this series. If Artest has KD, Kobe has Russ..who has James? Know what I mean?
Does anyone have a link to a better Artest mugshot than this one? http://www.thesmokinggun.com/mugshots/celebrity/sports/ron-artest
OKC very much needs to hold serve in these two home games setting the tempo and tone of the series. I wouldn't go beyond the first two and get too carried away making predictions of a sweep or an easy series. If the Lakers can control their dysfunctionality they have every bit as a talented team as Memphis--and who in their right mind would predict a Thunder sweep or five game series over the Grizz. I thought Artest was clearly the best defensive player on the floor last night. He effectively took both Gallinari and Andre Miller out of their comfort zones offensively. Kevin usually struggles with Artest--why is this going to be different? I think a key Monday night will be if the zebras get intimidated by all the hate in the air and actually call Artest for all the holding and clutching he usually gets away with on KD.
Beat LA!
@El Prez I don't know that I think a sweep is going to happen, but I do want one to happen. I really want the Thunder to lay the wood on the Lakers. I know Kobe isn't going down that easy, but I really want it to happen.
Gasol must have read on here what Coach Jack Nicholson said in regards to the Code Red and his uber Euro softness. He actually looked more like a basketball player than a Laker Girl last night. If Coach Jack keeps the fires lit under Gasol and he continues to play like a boy, the Lakers are a different ball club. The crowd will have no effect whatsoever on Artest tomorrow night. He thrives on the attention--might make him play better.
. . . the privilege of flipping your little mamby pamby Euro wrists . . .
(still laughing)
Happy Mother's Day to all the moms who frequent DT! And happy Mother's Day to the rest of DT too. Hope you let the mothers in your life know how much you care.
@ou_sas
I started Mother's Day by getting pulled over at 1:45 a.m. coming back into town. (Sticker on my tag is 11 days out of date and I've been too busy on dt to affix the new one.) Just a verbal warning--thanks to my Thunder t-shirt I'm sure.