Of course the Lakers jumped to an early 12-point lead. Of course they eventually lost it to an OKC run. Of course Kobe Bryant had a huge game. Of course the game came down to the last second. And of course Russell Westbrook and Metta World Peace got tangled up on the floor fighting over the ball and were issues double technicals. How could we expect any more or less than this after the season that the Lakers have had? They sure like to keep it interesting, don’t they?
After they gave away Game 2 to the Thunder due to a series of late-game foibles, the Lakers opened up tonight’s game with a seemingly greater sense of purpose. Halfway through the first quarter, they jumped to a 16-4 lead, and unlike the first two games, the ball movement was much more noticeable and, of course, much more helpful to the mission. After the first 12 minutes, the Lakers had handed out eight assists, with each of the starters passing out at least one dime. They also held OKC to just 15 points on 30% shooting.
As expected, however, the Thunder came rolling back in the second quarter, going off on an 18-9 run that gave them the lead. Except for the 12-point Laker lead in the first quarter, no lead rose above OKC’s seven-point advantage in the second half. It was a close game, with 10 lead changes and 10 ties; seven of those lead changes and eight of those ties all taking place in the final quarter.
The real sixth man that helped the Lakers in this game, was their near-perfect free throw shooting. Their final eight points all came from the charity stripe. When a game is this close, regardless of the free throw quantity, the ones attempted late in the game mean a whole great deal and the Lakers were able to convert and finish the night in their favor.















