It's Official - Lakers playing Thunder in 1st Round

[Jase]

Source: http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archi ... rst_round/

How do you guys feel about the matchup?

[Gerald3Wallace]

they are a tough team...but i think lakers take this in 5 or 6.

we need to feed the post...Camby just dropped 30 pts on the thunder...go through pau and we should be alright..

i hope kobe doesnt go into a one on one match with durant...we just gotta play as a team, and play with energy on the defensive end..although westbrook is still gnna murder fisher.

[kobesmyhomie]

Although they are a good team they are very young and inexperienced. Plus there bigs are nothing to worry about...I like this match-up.

[Flipdog69xxx]

The Thunder can't match up with size, so they gotta try and out run us the whole series. With that said, playoff bball is a completely different beast and small/run-and-gun doesn't go far in the grind-it-out 2nd season.

[farzi]

You're welcome

[DEEP3CL]

Well it's not a surprise. This won't be a push over series, the Thunder will compete until reality sets in by say Game 4. The key matchup will be Ron on K.Durant, we'll have to throw waves of defenders and keep giving him different looks throughout the series.

This is a blessing in disguise for Drew, the Thunder don't have bigs who can throw him off his game. This series will allow him to get his timing back. This series will be won with our front line, at least that should be the MO going in.

Kobe can really just be a facilitator early in the games, then depending on the situation of the games he can go into assassin mode in the crunch. The Thunder are young, athletic and have nothing to lose by being here. They will push us but we have to cut their throats.

Here's a recap on what happened in our season series with them.

Nov.3,2009 @ Oklahoma.......Los Angeles Lakers 101, Oklahoma City Thunder 98

Kobe led the Lakers with 31 points, Bynum scored 22 and grabbed 10 rebounds. Artest scored 20
Durant had 28.

Nov. 22, 2009 @ Los Angeles.......Oklahoma City Thunder 85, Los Angeles Lakers 101

Kobe led the Lakers with 26 points while Bynum scored 25 and grabbed 8 rebounds, Gasol scored 15
Durant had 19.

Dec. 22, 2009 @ Los Angeles........Oklahoma City Thunder 108, Los Angeles Lakers 111

Kobe scored 40 points, Gasol scored 15 and Bynum had 11. Oklahoma led at the half 61-54. The Lakers broke the game open in the 3rd out scoring the Thunder 34 - 21. Durant had 30 points.

Mar. 26, 2010 @ Oklahoma.......Los Angeles Lakers 75, Oklahoma City Thunder 91

Kobe scored 11 points, Lamar led the Lakers with 15. Oklahoma opened the game blazing hot, won the 1st quarter 27-15 and it was lights out for us. Durant had 26 and Westbrook had 23.

[That Nicka]

If Kobe and Bynum dont produce close to the level that we expect from them, this could turn into a 6 or 7 game series.


Sefalosha is going to make Kobe work. Ibaka is going to make Gasol work. Westbrook is going to run circles around Smush... I mean Fisher.... and Ron Artest is going to have to earn his money defending Durant....... As a Laker fan, the way we're playing right now, I'm not looking forward to this

[joe.linnen]

I need Kobe to feed the post early on in the game. I want the to get Bynum, Gasol, and Odom going before everyone else startes jacking up all these crazy shots. I say start in the pain then work our way out, we have a huge front line and we need to use itto over power thier front court. I think Kobe needs to take it easy in this round and not force anything. I would like to see him put up 8 dimes in this series tho.

[supaflash]

Thunder are coming down to reality, couldn't beat GS under pressure, couldn't beat wounded Portland. Granted neither did we, but we didn't play at full strength (or at full tilt imo)

Ibaka or Kristic won't make Gasol or Bynum work for crap. I-have-no-offense Camby just took a dump on them. And if they are in at the same time it will clog up the spacing for Westbrook and KD. We have all the matchup advantages here.

We can do a lot against KD. Ron will be physical, LO can put size on him while Ron switches to Green, and Kobe can hawk him as well. He will work hard and struggle, this ain't no regular season no more kid, if he's gettin 30 or 40 he's going to be taking 30 shots.

Westbrook can be contained, we can play him like Rondo.

I think we'll be ready for this, these guys have been waiting for a while and I think they understand the lesson from last year with Houston. I don't think they will let this team get any momentum at all. Pound them early in 1 and 2 and they will fold. I think this team wants to get it done quick so they can rest up while the other teams beat each other up...

[laduane1]

They will kill the Lakers at the point guard. Durant will get his 30 a game. If the Lakers can match him and keep Westbrook under check. Then we have a chance. If Kobe acts like Kobe. 5 for 20 shooting. We might be in trouble. Artest needs to step it up. Bynum needs to come back and that is a question mark. One game at a time.

[chefy]

feed the post, shutdown at least durant or westbrook...game

[sunsfever68]

Lakers size should cause problems for the Thunder.

I don't know if Thunder's lack of experience will hurt them they played like it didn't matter in the regular season down the stretch but the playoffs are different for sure.

If Bynum is healthy and is productive this series will be over in 5.

I'll say Lakers in 6. Agree that Westbrook will kill Fisher and Thabo will make Kobe work but the Lakers should win this series.


How do you guys think my suns will do? I think it depends on the matchup.


We play denver I think we win.

We play san antonio or utah I think we lose

Portland is a cake walk lol

[Effigy]

How do you guys think my suns will do? I think it depends on the matchup.


We play denver I think we win.

We play san antonio or utah I think we lose

Portland is a cake walk lol

Ha ha, I guess you're assuming Roy won't play. If Roy plays we'll beat Phoenix easily.

[That Nicka]

How do you guys think my suns will do? I think it depends on the matchup.


We play denver I think we win.

We play san antonio or utah I think we lose

Portland is a cake walk lol

I think the Suns can beat the Spurs or Blazers... I think they would lose to the Nuggets or Jazz...

I think they could finally beat the Spurs because Parker is coming off an injury, Duncan has declined A LOT, and Amare usually brings it in the playoffs... Ginobili would be tough to stop though, but if JRich plays well then you'll be ok.. Plus Suns would have HCA

I'm pretty sure the Suns can take this beat up Blazers team... Even with Roy I think the Suns would be able to get them in 7 with HCA

Now I dont like Nuggets/Jazz matchup for the Suns because Billups/Deron would make Nash work too hard on both ends and Deron would even out produce him... Melo is a bad matchup for the Suns as well imo... I could see Denver beating the Suns in 6.... Jazz beating the Suns in 6 or 7... I dont think the Suns can win a playoff game in Utah

[doozyj]

Should be a quick and easy series. Time for the Lakers to stop being bored with the regular season.

[Slava]

Lakers in 4. Let me see if I can grab some tickets for the games in OKC.

[Joe Kleazy]

All I do is win win win no matter what
Got RINGS on my mind I can never get enough
And everytime I step up in the building
Everybody hands go up
And they stay there
And they say yeah
And they stay there
Up down, up down, up down
'Cause all I do is win win win
And if you going in put your hands in the air make em stay there!

[Jase]

I like the idea of feeding Pau because that gives Kobe a chance to.....not coast, but not overexert himself. I'm concerned about Westbrook, because Fisher got eaten alive by Andre Miller, and Westbrook is much faster and more explosive than Miller.

Jon Barry said last night (per ESPN) that the Lakers best 1st round matchup is with the Spurs because it's better to put out San Antonio before they gain any confidence or momentum, and I'd agree with that. As it stands, I'm not worried about losing this series to OKC (Even as poorly as we've been playing), but I do worry about dragging it out to seven games and LA being worn out by the second round.

[TimoCruz]

My biggest worry in this series is Russel Westbrook and Jeff Green. I think Durant will be the same as he was in the Regular Season. We already know our inability to guard opposing Point Guards. I read someone saying ealier how we can guard Westbrook like Rondo. I think we cant. Mainly because Westbrook has a scorers mentality. He has a better mid range jumpshot, he cuts to the basket more aggressively and he can get offensive rebounds (not like rondo does by standing around,but by out jumping everyone). Jeff Green is scary to me because i dont think LO or Pau can guard him. If the lineup stays the same as the regular season for both teams, I can the Lakers getting beat a few times, mainly because the mismatches favour the Thunder. Now I know you may be saying, but we have Pau and Andrew and Lamar that could rape their big men. True. But, is there are a guarantee that Kobe will be willing to give up the ball THAT much. Kobe will still get his 20-25 shots in the game. And with Sefelosha guarding him, prepare to see some wild shots by Kob. I think will work the series like he did with PHX, when he allowed Kwame and Lamar to go wild on the PHX front line of Diaw and (dont know the other big). I just hope the Lakers can dictate the series from Day1. I wish Kobe and the rest of the buoys best of luck. And also i think they should all take some rest during the last game of the season because the Thunder will run their old asses out the building if they play lazy like they have been playing recently.

[CITYOFANGELSX3]

Should be a fun fun series to watch, im really excited about these playoffs