Thunder/Lakers Recap

Since before OKC was in Oklahoma City, the Sonics/Thunder rivalry with the LA Lakers was legend.  Many were the battles between these two teams in their heyday...but that was then and this is now.  And now, the Thunder have dominated the recent matchups, and last nights dismantling of the short-handed Lakers 116-101 was no exception.  Hard to find joy in beating a team missing 2 of its best 4 players...but you know what?  A win is a win however you slice it.


There's a new Nike ad campaign centered around Kevin Durant, and highlighting some of this seasons accomplishments - the tagline for this campaign is "KD is not nice."  And its usually followed up with a pic of KD with a mean mug glaring at someone.  I watched last nights game against the LakeShow, and let me tell you - what KD did to LA last night was definitely not nice.  Scoring in every way imaginable and against every defender that LaLa could throw at him, KD absolutely manhandled an entire Lakers team on the way to 42 points on just 25 shots.  Read that again...42 points on JUST 25 shots!

KD was a one man wrecking crew last night, but he did get some help from the usual suspects.  Russ started out a little off, and part of it was his hoisting more 3 point attempts than is probably wise.  He hit 5 3s in the last game against LA, and its usually fools gold but hey - when the guy heats up, he's darn near unguardable. But he finished the game well, with an impressive 27/7/10 line and ended up hitting about 48% from the field.  KMart chipped in 15 on 50% shooting, and between those three guys...they basically dominated the game.  LA couldn't find the bucket, managing to hit just under 40% of their shots, and other than Kobe and Antawn Jamison giving them good garbage minutes, this one was a laugher after the first quarter.

Ibaka was mysteriously ineffective, and left the game early due to an injury in the first half.  Fortunately the Thunder didn't need him what with KD shredding everyone in front of him, but it could be cause for concern going forward.  Hopefully its not serious and he'll be back in time for Sunday's game against Portland.  I could pile on the woeful Lakers troubles some more, but that also would be "not nice."  Suffice it to say the LakeShow is in trouble, and this is clearly a tale of two teams heading in opposite directions.

Look for the Thunder next in Portland at 6:00pm on Sunday.  When you do, I'm sure you will see the #ThunderNationRISE