The Los Angeles Lakers showed some life early, going on a 11-0 run to end the 1st quarter and tie the game at 25. But, the game got away from them quickly as the Oklahoma City Thunder pulled away in the 2nd quarter by outscoring the Lakers by 16. The Oklahoma City Thunder never looked back, closing out the Lakers and making the 4th quarter into garbage time. The loss extends the Lakers current losing streak to 6 which is the longest for the Lakers since 2007 where the Lakers lost 7 in a row. The Lakers 7 game losing streak came in the season prior to obtaining Pau Gasol.
The dynamic duo of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, who scored a combined 69 points in their last meeting on December 7th, combined for the same 69 on Friday night.
The Lakers problems all year has been defense and those struggles continued against the Thunder who shot 50.6% from the field. To add to the defensive problems, the Lakers couldn’t get anything going on the offensive end, they shot a horrible 39.8% from the field and shot 6 from 28 from the 3 point land. The 3 point shot is a weapon that is featured in a D’Antoni led team but there has to be some questions if the Lakers have the personal to take the high amount of 3s as they have been taking. In the Lakers last 10 games the Lakers are shooting 29% from 3s which puts them next to last in the league in that span.
Earl Clark had another good game and showed he deserves to stay in the rotation. Earl ended the night with a double double, 10 points and 10 rebounds. Kobe Bryant led the Lakers in scoring with 28, but shot 8 from 23 from the field.
During the game it was announced the Jordan Hill will require surgery to repair his injured hip and will be out for the remainder of the season. Jordan Hill will obtain a 2nd opinion.
The Lakers next game is on Sunday at Staples where they’ll face the Cleveland Cavaliers.
-Fern Rea “@fullcourtfern”
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