by Paul Teetor
There was nothing but doom and gloom predicted for the Lakers in the semifinal Western Conference Playoffs against the Oklahoma City Thunder. And after a 7-0 start in game one it all came true. After that great start by the Lakers, the Thunder came roaring back and rolled to a 108-90 win, despite LeBron’s 27 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
In game two, last Thursday night, the Lakers looked positively ecstatic as they walked off the floor at halftime of game two with a 58-57 lead over the Thunder. For everybody who dismissively predicted the Lakers had no chance against the NBA defending champions, and for those who had warned that they would be swamped on the way to being swept, this was an emphatic clap back: yes, we do have a chance.
A long-shot chance, maybe, but still a real chance. Look at this: we’re beating the Thunder right now.
Then they ended up losing that game by a score of 125-107.
In the end, it too was a blowout – on the way to a sweep, as predicted by everybody, including All Ball.
It just took the Thunder a while to get their broom working.
Two days later in Saturday night’s game three, the same pattern repeated itself. This time the Lakers took a 59-57 halftime lead, and the packed house at the aptly-named Crypt gave them a standing ovation as they walked off the floor and headed for their locker room.
The fans had good reason to feel like their team now had a chance against the reigning champs and the MVP-to-be-for-the-second-straight-year, superstar guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
LeBron James was playing like the great player he is, scoring, rebounding, passing and defending with the energy and skill Laker fans have come to expect of him over the last seven years.
Power forward Rui Hachimura was on fire from three-point range, connecting on more than half of his shot attempts. Luke Kennard was hot from three-point land too, giving the Lakers the kind of long-range shooting they needed to offset the non-existent inside game of Laker centers DeAndre Ayton and Jaxson Hayes.
Most important, Marcus Smart, a former NBA Defensive Player of the Year when he was with the Boston Celtics, was locking up SGA to the point where he was being held to 20 points per game in the first three games, far below his second-in-the-league average of 32 ppg. SGA finished right behind Luka Doncic, who averaged 33 ppg but could only watch helplessly from the Lakers bench while trying to heal from a lingering hamstring injury.
But the Lakers ran out of energy and lost their mojo in the second half of game two, and late in the game Austin Reaves – who was coming off a terrible 3-for-16 shooting night in game one, started feuding with the refs. That’s a sure sign that you’re going to lose the game and it was completely out of character for Reaves, who normally goes about his business and doesn’t engage with the refs one way or the other.
But this time he claimed that referee Ben Taylor was disrespecting him by yelling at him, so Reaves yelled back and got a technical.
The Lakers led at halftime and trailed by just five points in the fourth quarter against a team that had its way with them for the bulk of their first five meetings this season. But their good shooting wasn’t nearly enough for the Lakers to overcome their 21 turnovers in a 125-107 defeat.
“We tried to execute the game plan as close to 48 minutes as possible, but it just didn’t get done,” LeBron James said after the Lakers fell behind 2-0 in the best-of-seven series.
James – who spent much of the game exasperated with the officials, just like Reaves was – scored 23 points on 9-for-18 shooting along with six assists and three steals.
But he too was feuding with the refs, justifying the derisive nickname “LeBaby” that some fans have given him for his constant begging for foul calls that never come.
“LeBron has the worst whistle of any star player I’ve ever seen,” Redick said of the officiating on James, leading to just four free-throw attempts for the 41-year-old who played his 300th playoff game.
After the final buzzer sounded, Reaves led a horde of Lakers players and staff to center court, where they came face to face with the game’s officials. Expressively, Reaves pleaded his case to crew chief John Goble as James nodded in agreement, before the Lakers headed to the locker room.
Reaves said that during a jump ball in the fourth quarter, when he and other players on the court were positioning themselves, referee Ben Taylor raised his voice toward him. Reaves took offense to the interaction.
“At the end of the day, we’re grown men and I just didn’t feel like he needed to yell in my face like that,” Reaves said. “I told him that. I wasn’t disrespectful. I told him if I did that to him first, I would have got a tech. I feel like the only reason I didn’t get a tech is because he knew he was in the wrong. So, yeah, I just felt disrespected.”
On several occasions throughout the game, Lakers players were incredulous after calls – or non-calls – from the crew. Reaves, Marcus Smart and Jaxson Hayes all finished with five fouls.
While his players were setting up their the-refs-screwed-us explanations, Redick put it all in perspective: the Thunder are just deeper, younger and more talented.
“We didn’t lose because of the refs,” Redick said of his team, which attempted 21 free throws compared to the Thunder’s 26. “That’s never the case. You don’t lose because of refs; you lose because the other team outplays you. And Oklahoma City outplayed us.”
Redick continued later in his postgame press conference: “I sarcastically said the other day, Oklahoma City is the most disruptive team without fouling. They have a few guys who foul on every possession and all good defenses do it.”
Despite all the whining over the officiating, the Lakers did climb back within five points at 99-94 when James scored in the paint with 7:36 left.
But Thunder big man Chet Holmgren – who was impressive and impactful all series long — made a 3-pointer over Lakers center Deandre Ayton, who was not impressive or impactful. Then former Laker Alex Caruso picked off a poor pass by Smart on the following possession, and Holmgren drew a foul at the other end. In less than a minute, the Thunder pushed their lead back to double digits, where it remained until the final buzzer.
The Lakers had opportunities to steal a Game 2 victory at the Paycom Center. Oklahoma City jumped out to a comfortable first-quarter lead – using an 11-0 run to open an 11-point lead after the Lakers knotted the score at 16 – but Rui Hachimura drilled a 3-pointer before the buzzer to bring the Lakers back within four points entering the second quarter.
But then they started obsessing over the refs, arguing every call, and the dye was cast: a team that complains together loses.
After this humiliating sweep, the future for this Lakers team is as murky as the May Gray that blanketed the coastline every morning for the last two weeks.
Contact: teetor.paul@gmail.com. ER
