Well, they finally did it!
It took the Los Angeles Lakers 74 games but they finally reached the magical .500 clip as they defeated a very game Oklahoma City Thunder, 116-111, in which the Lakers nearly did in a wire-to-wire fashion.
It was very encouraging to see L.A. and Anthony Davis get aggressive from the start. Davis dominated the paint while everyone else made threes (even Wenyen Gabriel!) to get the Lakers jumpin’. It didn’t matter that D’Angelo Russell (who was a late scratch) wasn’t there; the Lakers didn’t seem to miss a beat with Dennis Schröder and Austin Reaves doing the ballhandling duties. Darvin Ham even made sure one of them was on the court at all times. What a novel concept! The Lakers dropped 41 in the first quarter.
The Thunder, with their youthful energy, did cut the deficit down in the second quarter. Of course, it’s just so hard to stop Shai Gilgeous-Alexander from getting his but Josh Giddey, Lu Dort, and Jalen Williams were there to provide support. With Russell out, head coach Darvin Ham turned to Lonnie Walker IV. Walker gave a huge boost from the bench to help keep the Thunder at bay as he scored 15 in an explosive manner. That dude stayed ready and that’s something to be respected. Lakers led, 74-66, going into the break.
OKC kept poking and prodding, though. The Lakers were leading by 8 before the Thunder scored 7 quick points to close the third. Oh, those third quarter woes. Lakers were hanging on to a precarious 93-92 lead going into the fourth.
Dennis Schröder got going, though. He carried the offense early for the Lakers and scored 7 quick points to start. Still, OKC tied the game at 105 after Jaylin Williams made a three. But then Lonnie Walker IV countered back with a three of his own. Then Schröder took it home with a couple of jumpers as time began to ran out for OKC.
There was a bit of nervous time as Anthony Davis missed a late free throw with 25 seconds left. The Lakers were up by five at that point. But the Thunder threw away the ensuing inbounds pass and now Los Angeles is at .500.
Los Angeles played very well even if they lost an early 17-point lead. They kept their composure even when we knew the Thunder would come back; they’re really that dangerous of a team. But they had a counter for each rally and they made timely baskets when they needed ’em.
Anthony Davis hears the noise. He knows his offense hadn’t been enough in a couple of games in the last two weeks. This time around, he dominated the paint and imposed his will on the Thunder. It helps that the coaching staff actually made plays surrounding him getting the rock. The result? 37 points off 15 for 21 (.714) shooting to go along with 15 boards. He certainly ate on Friday.
Dennis Schröder was huge in the fourth quarter. He did this in their previous game against OKC as well. Dennis turned up for 13 of his 21 points in the fourth. He came through for L.A. as OKC attempted to wrest the lead away from them.
If you want a mark of a true professional, look no further than Lonnie Walker IV. It’s easy for a player to mope and whine when their starting position gets taken away. Heck, he was pretty much taken out of the rotation. But at the very least, Walker didn’t complain about it (publicly, at least) and waited for his chance to play. He did on Friday night and he immediately reminded everyone what he could do. And he’s done this quite a bit since all the new acquisitions got there. It almost seems like a luxury for this team (Davis certainly appreciates him). Walker ended with 20 points.
OKC was supposed to rebuild but it’s so awesome to see them fighting for a play-in spot. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s play may have accelerated this process. OKC was probably looking for that gamebreaker off the draft… but they already had this player all along. SGA is a masterful scorer and he showed it again against Los Angeles. He ended with 27 points. Josh Giddey also ended with 27 but also grabbed 17 rebounds and 7 assists. His play is getting more terrifying. Lu Dort finished with 15 for the Thunder.
The Lakers are now 37-37 and currently parked at the 8th seed. Now that they got to .500, it’s time to do their best to either hold on or do more. They’re only 1.5 games behind the 6th-seeded Warriors. Heck, they’re only two games behind the fourth-seeded Clippers. And they have a chance to gain more ground as they’re going to take on the Chicago Bulls in the next two games.
Maybe they really are peaking at the right time. And with the pending return of LeBron James? This could get very interesting.
