A lot of people were starting to jump on the Oklahoma City Thunder bandwagon after the Los Angeles Lakers lost two straight to the Thunder, including a 110-89 blowout loss in game four.  Those people got a reality check in the Lakers 111-87 blowout victory in game 5 last night.  I don’t mean to take anything away from Kevin Durant and the Thunder, who have shown they belong in the playoffs, but after the Lakers went up 2-0 they kind of went into cruise control against the young Thunder.  The Thunder proved they aren’t a team that will just roll over and let the Lakers breeze through the first round, but the Lakers are still the much better team and they proved that last night.  Kobe Bryant only scored 13 points on 4-9 shooting, so it wasn’t like Kobe took over and had one of those nights were nobody could stop him.  He did show off his defensive prowess though, shutting down the Thunder’s super athletic point guard Russell Westbrook.  Last night it was a Lakers team that showed off their depth and dominance, with 10 different players scoring and five in double figures.  They held the Thunder to 37% shooting and got 21 points off of 17 turnovers, while holding Durant to just 17 points on 5-14 shooting.  The Thunder definitely deserve some respect, but for the people that thought they were actually going to upset the number one seeded defending champions in the first round need to wake up.  I expect the Lakers to wrap up this series in game six and they are still my favorite to win the 2010 NBA Championship.

The Lakers got blasted in game #4 as the Thunder punished them for all four quarters. Pau Gasol (13 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists) and Andrew Bynum (13 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocked shots) led the way for the Lakers last night. Kobe Bryant (12 points), Derek Fisher (11 points), Lamar Odom (12 points) and Shannon Brown (10 points) all pitched in offensively for the Lakers in this game. The Lakers are tied up 2-2 with the Thunder in this series and they looked like a old, broke down team last night.

The Lakers got pushed around a little bit last night as the Thunder outrebounded them 53-39 last night and the Lakers were outscored 27-21 in the 4th quarter as the Thunder looked like they wanted this basketball game more. Kobe Bryant had another rough shooting night hitting 10 of 29 shots from the floor as he finished up with 24 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals. Pau Gasol had another big game for the Lakers last night with 17 points, 15 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocked shots. Derek Fisher pitched in with 17 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists last night for the Lakers. The Lakers still hold a 2-1 edge in this series.

The Lakers turned up the D holding the Thunder to 39.2% shooting from the floor plus they outrebounded the Thunder 49-37 which really helped them win this game. Kobe Bryant led the way for the Lakers last night with 39 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals on 12 of 28 shooting from the floor. Pau Gasol also had a outstanding game last night for the Lakers with 25 points, 12 rebounds and 2 assists. Bryant and Gasol were the only two Lakers’ players with more than six points last night and it’s hard to win that way. The Lakers are now up 2-0 in this series as it heads to Oklahoma City this weekend.

The Lakers used their size advantage on the boards and they played solid defense (especially Ron Artest) to down the Thunder yesterday in game #1 of this series. Kobe Bryant had a terrible shooting day hitting only 6 of 19 shots from the floor but he still finished up with 21 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocked shots. Pau Gasol was outstanding as usual for the Lakers in this game with 19 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocked shots. Andrew Bynum played his first game in quite some while and he finished with 13 points, 12 rebounds, 1 assist and 4 blocked shots in only 30 minutes on the court. The Lakers got into Kevin Durant’s head, at least in this game, as he was only 7 of 24 shooting from the floor as Ron Artest was in his face all game long. The Lakers are up 1-0 in this series.

Phil Jackson is already up to some old tricks criticizing refs for their handling of Kevin Durant. Come on Phil, like Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan didn’t get EVERY call when you won your 10 NBA Championships? You know better so grow up! Phil Jackson’s mouth has added even more spice to this first round series. Here is a breakdown of the matchups:

Point Guard: Russell Westbrook is a up and coming point guard who will likely abuse Derek Fisher in this series. Westbrook played in 82 games (all starts) for the Thunder this season and he averaged 34.3 minutes, 16.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, 8.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game. He has too much speed for Derek Fisher to deal with.

Derek Fisher is the starting point guard in name only as Kobe directs the offense. Fisher is a big game player and he isn’t too shy to take a big shot at the end of a game. Fisher played in 82 games (all starts) for the Lakers this year and he averaged 27.2 minutes, 7.5 points, 2.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

EDGE: HUGE FOR THE THUNDER

Shooting Guard: Thabo Sefolosha starts at shooting guard for the Thunder because of his defense. He will have his hands full trying to cover Kobe Bryant in this series. Sefolosha played in 82 games (all starts) for the Thunder this season and he averaged 28.6 minutes, 6.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game.

Kobe Bryant is one of the greatest players in NBA history, period. He loves to step up in the playoffs so I think he will have a outstanding series against the Thunder. Bryant played in 73 games (all starts) for the Lakers this season and he averaged 38.8 minutes, 27.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.6 steals per game.

EDGE: HUGE FOR THE LAKERS

Small Forward: Kevin Durant is one of the two or three best players in the NBA and Phil Jackson done pissed him off. He abused Ron Artest during the regular season and I see no reason for that to change in this series. Durant played in 82 games (all starts) for the Thunder this season and he averaged 39.5 minutes, 30.1 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.0 blocked shot per game. This series will be his big coming out party on the National Stage.

Ron Artest has fit right in with the Lakers as he plays solid defense and he defers shots to other players. He played in 77 games (all starts) for the Lakers this season and he averaged 33.8 minutes, 11.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Look for Artest to foul Durant hard a couple of times in this series to attempt to get into his head.

EDGE: HUGE FOR THE THUNDER

Power Forward: Jeff Green will have to really man up in this series against the much bigger Pau Gasol. Green played in 82 games (all starts) for the Thunder this season and he averaged 37.1 minutes, 15.1 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Green should do a solid job at least offensively in this series.

Pau Gasol will slide back over to power forward where he plays better in this series. Gasol played in 65 games (all starts) for the Lakers this season and he averaged 37.0 minutes, 18.3 points, 11.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.7 blocked shots per game. He will try to bully Green in this series.

EDGE: LAKERS

Center: Nenad Krstic is a basic center who likes to play close to the basket. He played in 76 games (all starts) for the Thunder this season and he averaged 22.9 minutes, 8.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. The Thunder will be happy if Krstic plays good defense and rebounds in this series.

Andrew Bynum is back for the Lakers for this series after missing some time at the end of the year due to injury. Bynum played in 65 games (all starts) for the Lakers this season and he averaged 30.4 minutes, 15.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 1.5 blocked shots per game. The Lakers are a better team with Bynum back in action.

EDGE: LAKERS

BENCH: The Thunder have a young bench with three rookies (James Harden, Serge Ibaka and Eric Maynor) playing key roles. So it’s important that none of the kids are intimidated by the Lakers and the playoffs. Harden will have the tough job of covering Kobe when he is in the game. He played in 76 games (0 starts) for the Thunder this season and he averaged 22.9 minutes, 9.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Serge Ibaka was tough around the basket and the Thunder will need him to keep it up when he is in the game. Nick Collison is another big guy who will be needed to battle down low with the Lakers’ front line. Eric Maynor will likely give Westbrook a breather once in a while in this series.

Lamar Odom is back to being the first player off the bench for the Lakers. He played in 82 games (38 starts) for the Lakers this season and he averaged 31.5 minutes, 10.8 points, 9.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. Shannon Brown and Jordan Farmar will both also get a lot of P.T. in this series for the Lakers.

EDGE: EVEN

Coach: Scott Brooks led the Thunder to a 50-32 (61%) record this year. He now has a 72-79 (47.7%) record in his time with the Thunder. It will be interesting to watch Brooks try to match X’s and O’s with the Zen Master.

Phil Jackson led the Lakers to a 57-25 record (69.5%) during the regular season. He has a record on 553-267 (68.3%) during the regular season in his career with the Lakers and he is 98-50 (66.2%) during the post season with them. Jackson has won 4 NBA Championships with the Lakers and 10 overall in his career.

EDGE: HUGE FOR THE LAKERS

PREDICTION: Kevin Durant will prove to be the best player on the court at all times in this series (sorry Kobe) but the Lakers will still win this series in 5 games.

The Lakers will be without backup shooting guard Sasha Vujacic indefinitely due to a severe high ankle sprain. Vujacic played in 67 games (1 start) for the Lakers this season and he averaged 8.6 minutes, 2.8 points, 1.2 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. Vujacic has had some big shots in the past for the Lakers in the playoffs but he fell behind Shannon Brown on the depth chart so they shouldn’t miss him too much.

The Lakers only shot 39.5% from the floor against the Clippers last night and it was a key factor in the loss. Lamar Odom led the way for the Lakers last night with 21 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists. Pau Gasol was outstanding around the basket as he finished up with 18 points, 17 rebounds and 2 assists. Shannon Brown pitched in with 18 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists last night. The Lakers finish the season with a 57-25 record and they will open the playoffs against the Oklahoma City Thunder this weekend.

No Kobe, No Problem…..at least last night against the Kings. Pau Gasol led the way for the Lakers last night with 28 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists. Shannon Brown got the start in Kobe’s place and all he did was score 24 points, grab 3 rebounds and dish out 3 assists in 42 minutes. Sasha Vujacic pitched in with a solid game off the bench last night with 13 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists in 26 minutes on the court. The Lakers are now 57-24 on the year.

The Lakers didn’t appear to want this game as much as the Blazers did as they were outscored 22-17 in the 4th quarter. The Lakers were even bricking a lot of free throws late in the game and it cost them today. Pau Gasol was all over the place as he led the way for the Lakers today with 23 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocked shots. Kobe Bryant had a horrible shooting night hitting only 8 of 23 shots from the floor as he finished up with 20 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Lamar Odom was tough around the basket all game long as he finished up with 15 points, 16 rebounds and 3 assists. Derek Fisher was left open quite a bit in this game as the result was him scoring 14 points, grabbing 2 rebounds and dishing out 3 assists. The Lakers fell to 56-24 on the season as the Magic have passed them up for the second best record in the NBA.