Serge Ibaka Reacts to the Thunder's Loss
AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill

There are so many qualifiers to this game but Oklahoma City shouldn’t hang their head on this loss. Yeah, they blew it down the stretch, but they did execute well enough to get the exact shots they wanted. Kevin Durant got fouled on a couple and just bricked two more (not to mention a wide open dunk that Westbrook missed). Any of those go in, and they escaped with a victory in regulation. When a team amasses an 18 point lead late in the 3rd quarter when their two stars shoot 13-56, you’re doing something right.

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There were some key matchups that do shed light on how Scott Brooks and Mike Brown intend to play this if they meet in the playoffs. In a atypically smart move, Mike Brown put Kobe Bryant on Russell Westbrook. Not only was Kobe engaged and making life miserable for Russ, Brown knew that Westbrook would be unable to resist the challenge of going right at Kobe. He forced numerous bad shots, and Kobe got the benefit of any and all calls while playing at home.

James Harden, Before And After

The biggest X-factor for the Lakers is how to stop James Harden. Brown clearly had a game plan for him, as they had Matt Barnes try to deny him the basketball at half court. This worked out well for OKC, and Harden had no trouble dominating the game until he was summarily taken out by Metta World Peace. There is simply not a doubt that having Harden for the stretch run of this game would have changed its outcome. One solution is to have Kobe guard Harden, but that leaves them vulnerable to Westbrook, as it remains to be seen if Ramon Sessions knows how to play up to the competition.

So a big win for the Lakers, it was more important to them for playoff seeding then it was for the Thunder. But at full strength, a series between these two games goes no longer than 6 games. And that would require more of the miraculous shot making that Kobe Bryant has been known for his whole career.

Read article and watch video breakdown- OKC Thunder vs LA Lakers Breakdown and Analysis

Post-Game Chat (Apologies- audio is a bit off due to uploading of game for breakdown.. won’t happen in future)

Thunder-Lakers In-Game Breakdown

Watch how the Lakers get easy buckets in the first quarter.

Thunder-Lakers Pre-Game Notes

The OKC Thunder (46-17) have won six of ten and are a half game behind the San Antonio Spurs, the top seed in the Western Conference. The LA Lakers (40-24) have also won six of ten but are dealing with two blowout losses to the Spurs over the last five days. Kobe Bryant will be playing his second game after missing seven games due to tenosynivits in his left shin.

This game is more important for the Lakers who need to establish some confidence and continuity following two bad losses to the Spurs, and the return of Kobe Bryant. Also, the Lakers are 1-4 against the Thunder and Spurs this season. Don’t expect any let up from the Thunder who want to keep pace with the Spurs to have a shot at the top seed in the West.

2012 Thunder-Lakers Notes

The Thunder are 2-0 against the Lakers this season.

At home, they defeated LA 100-85 on February 23rd. Kevin Durant had 33 points and 6 assists and Serge Ibaka had 11 points, 19 rebounds . LA’s Big Three were the only Lakers to score in double figures & Bryant (29%) and Bynum (33%) both shot poorly.

On March 29th, the Thunder beat the Lakers 102-93 at Staples Center. Russell Westbrook led the Thunder with 36 points and Durant added 21 points. Andrew Bynum led the Lakers with 25 points and 13 rebounds. Pau Gasol (4-11) and Kobe Bryant’s (7-25) misfires hurt the Lakers, who ended up shooting 42% for the game.

Written by Arun and Coach Nick

Dwayne Wade and Richard Hamilton exchange words in Miami's win over the Bulls (Photo by Steve Mitchell US Presswire)

The Miami Heat beat the Chicago Bulls 83-72 in the final regular season game between the two top teams in the Eastern Conference. Even without Chris Bosh and Derrick Rose, the game was highly competitive as only one game separates the two teams with one week left.

The game’s intensity was marked by James Jones’ ejection, double technical’s on Dwyane Wade and Richard Hamilton, and a viscous- but legal- LeBron James screen on John Lucas. The intensity masked some rather poor play- could be good defense or just poor execution. Both teams scored 20+ points in the 1st & 3rd quarter, but failed to do so in the 2nd and 4th quarters.

LeBron James led the Heat with 27 points (8-18 FG’s), 11 rebounds, 6 assists and only one turnover. Dwane Wade (18 points) and Mario Chalmers (16 points) helped but they both shot poorly (7-16) and added weight to the argument that Miami’s offense is suspect.

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LeBron James drive with Joakim Noah challenging. (Photo by Steve Mitchell US Presswire)

Without Derrick Rose it looked like the Bulls had trouble scoring and getting easy shots. Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer and John Lucas each scored in double figures but only Noah (5-5 fg’s) shot a good percentage. The Bulls shot 36% and were 2-16 from the 3-point line.

Should the two teams meet in the playoffs, basketball fans can look forward to an exciting match-up pitting two athletic teams fighting for a chance to get to the NBA Finals. Both teams play excellent defense and, when healthy, can do some amazing things on offense.

Written by Arun and Coach Nick

[Article Continued After The Breakdown]

What saves the Heat is their vaunted defense, which forces turnovers and run outs at a very high rate. In fact, the team relies on these turnovers and run outs to generate a significant part of their offense. According to Synergy Sports, transition is the 2nd most offensive play they execute. Problem is, in the playoffs, as have time to prepare, they will certainly turn the ball over less and provide less opportunity for the Heat to get those easy shots.

The Heat defense has been exposed this week on two specific plays. Both the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls used down screens and curls to goad the defense to over extend. The curler would simply slip a pocket pass to the down screener for an easy 15 footer. Spoelstra never adjusted and the Heat lost both games. Had the screener’s man simply stayed a little closer to his man, they would’ve thwarted many of those Kevin Garnett jumpers.

The Knicks showed they can run a screen and roll with a weakside pin down, in order to take advantage of the Heat’s over pursuit of the ball. Time after time, the Knicks freed up 3 point shooters with a simple back screen on the weakside, and a skip pass got them wide open shots. I can guarantee teams playing the Knicks in the playoffs will run both of these sets ad nauseum and if they limit their turnovers, the Heat become vulnerable.

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Kobe Bryant celebrates after hitting another big shot against the Clippers

In the breakdown it’s evident that both teams, while talented and dangerous, have offensive and defensive issues that need to be resolved in order to advance in the playoffs:

The Lakers continue to struggle with pick-and-roll defense. Too often, the screener’s man is forced to switch on to the opposing team’s point guard, causing all sort of matchup nightmares. In this case, Chris Paul could blow right by Gasol or Bynum, exposing the Lakers below average weakside help. If Mike Brown would play ICE against the sideline pick and rolls, forcing Chris Paul to the baseline and the screener’s man sinking back in the lane to contain, they would eliminate the need to rotate on the weakside AND the mismatch of Bynum guarding Paul.

Defensively, the Clippers had no answer for Andrew Bynum. For the most part, they played Bynum with single coverage and he consistently scored over DeAndre Jordan. Either they miscalculated Jordan’s defense or they’re okay with Bynum having a huge night so that others don’t get many touches.

Kobe Bryant (31 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds) and Andrew Bynum (36 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks) offset a quiet effort by Pau Gasol (12 points and 7 rebounds). Gasol seemed to shy away from Blake Griffin’s strength and aggressiveness, getting tangled up with him on several occasions. In response to Griffin’s foul being upgraded to a Flagrant 1, Gasol replied: “Can they take the dunk back too?”

Ramon Sessions continued his strong play with 16 points, 8 assists and 6 rebounds. Kobe (13-19) and Bynum (13-20) were highly efficient, in the face of the 22nd ranked defense in the league. LA’s bench continued it’s poor offensive play as they played only three players (Barnes, McRoberts and Blake) who were a combined 3-13.

Chris Paul had a huge night (22 points and 16 assists) and Caron Butler added 28 points with four three-pointers. Blake Griffin struggled with only 15 points on 7-16 shooting. Randy Foye (5-13) and Nick Young (6-15) shot particularly poorly (1-12) from 3-point territory.

Blake Griffin dunks over Pau Gasol (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Oh, yeah, Blake Griffin had two video-game dunks over Pau Gasol which both could have been offensive fouls. And Kobe Bryant made some impossible shots to finish off the Clippers. I wouldn’t be surprised if the NBA does their best to engineer a playoff matchup between these two teams, because the ratings would be through the roof.

Written by Arun and Coach Nick

So it is with basketball that we have this chunk of time where the coaches can sit down with their players, go over their play from the opening half, and adjust the strategy to ensure they win the game. Oh, and have a nice drink or even a massage if need be. You can only imagine how important this period of time is, especially since this is where the cheerleaders get to earn their money out on the floor.

[More after the breakdown]

I’m always fascinated about the start of third quarters – some coaches say the first 3 minutes or crucial, others say 5, seems kinda arbitrary to me, but there is no doubt that when two great teams go up against each other, this section of the game often decides the outcome. The gauntlet had been thrown in the 1st half, and now it’s time to see who’s gonna bend over and pick it up.

With the Bulls vs. Thunder game, there was a big flashing sign in each corner of the arena that said: “Derrick Rose is not playing today.” And below that, a smaller sign that flashed: “Neither is Rip Hamilton.” It is impossible to say how different the outcome would’ve been with Rose and to a lesser extent Hamilton, but watching the Bulls struggle to score against a revved up Thunder defense was cringe worthy. The Bulls repetitively settled for long outside jumpers they couldn’t make, which enabled the Thunder to come down quickly and score – essentially a recipe for disaster. Bulls fans clung to hope since Chicago has done so well without Rose for so long, but without him, it was like bringing a Bull to a gun fight.

Dwight Howard Wonders Why He Stayed

We are now at Halftime of this article, and I’ve taken that opportunity to break out a cold one, sit back and re-read what I’ve written, fixed a typo (made “11 out of 16″ to simply “11 of 16″) and added some italics. I’m serious about having halftime in more aspects of life. How about parenting? When your kid gets to 9 years old, they take him away to a smelly locker room where a “coach” screams at him for several days about cleaning up his room and listening to his parents more. Love it.

Now, make no mistake about it, these next few paragraphs are crucial to the success of this article. With that, we go to the big guns the Miami Heat to figure out what’s wrong. One big red flag: they’ve started shooting more 3′s. Call it fatigue, ennui, or guys getting theirs, rather than post up and work their effective Horns set, they go from averaging 15 three point attempts per game – ranking 25th in the league, to 19 three points attempts in their losses. The real question is: Can Erik Spoelstra influence them enough to get his players to stop this.

Another issue I have is with Chris Bosh posting up. As the good teams have had time to prepare and take away things from LeBron and Wade, Bosh is even more vital to the Heat’s success. According to Synergy Sports, posting up is what Bosh does the most. But where it becomes infuriating is WHERE Bosh posts up. On the right block, he’s rated Very Good, in the 72nd percentile, and he gets 58% of his post ups there. But on the left block, he is an awful 28th percentile, shooting 32% from the field. And yet, he posts up there 39% of the time. I can only place the blame on Spoelstra for this – since he calls plays that get Bosh his post ups, and way too many of them are designed to get it to him on that left block. To continue to feed the ball to Bosh that much on the left side smacks of masochism to me.

Boston, left for dead 10 days ago, has made a resurgence of late. Having won 8 out of 9, they have vaulted aead of Philadelphia for the Atlantic Division’s inevitable 4th seed in the conference. The biggest adjustment has been to shift Kevin Garnett over to center. Now, on his pick and pops, a slower, less mobile center has to jump out and stop KG’s jumper. On the low block, KG is still quick enough to out maneuver most opposing centers. This has worked so well, he’s averaging 3 more points per game over the last 10 games. This move is Doc Rivers’ halftime moment, although it probably belongs more to Jermaine O’Neal for getting injured than anything else.

So here we are at the end. I truly feel that this article got better after halftime, and I’m thankful for the opportunity to use it. Right now, it feels like the Thunder will win the West, but I still think the Spurs have the best chance, followed by Memphis – a team no one wants to play – even with a halftime. I throw my hands up with the Heat at this point – they’re proven to be mortal against the good teams, especially when they can’t get turnovers and run outs. In a halfcourt game, the Heat become very mortal. So use your halftimes wisely, sports fans, especially while on a date, or a job interview, or even that visit to the in-laws. It might be your only chance to adjust.

The Thunder have the Heat-like ability to turn up their defensive pressure, making it very difficult on teams to get good shots. And if they force a turnover, like Miami, it’s lights out in a hurry. Their athletes can get into transition as quick as any team in the league, and with finishers like Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, and Serge Ibaka, they’re leaving no doubt who the top of the Western Conference is.

Continued After The Breakdown

The Lakers are running out of time to get an identity on offense. No doubt adding Ramon Sessions so late has been a blessing and a curse, but it remains to be seen if they can figure it out in time for the playoffs. There is no doubt you don’t want to be learning on the fly in the midst of a tough postseason battle, but this appears where the Lakers are heading.

Oklahoma City has elite athletes at 4 positions, and they have been able to manage Russell Westbrook’s wild forays into non Point Guard territory. The only team that appears to have enough weapons to hurt them is the San Antonio Spurs.

CELTICS:

Play Types	%Time	PPP	Rank (out of 30)
Spot Up	21.3%	.933	18
Transition	12.8%	1.151	12
P&R Ball Handler	10.8%	.676	28
Post-Up	10.5%	.855	10
Cut	9.1%	1.195	16
Isolation	8.1%	.825	8

Stats provided by Synergy Sports

Rajon Rondo Running The Show

[More after the breakdown]

SIXERS:

Play Types	%Time	PPP	Rank (out of 30)
Spot Up	17%	.969	12
Transition	15%	1.093	27
Isolation	13.4%	.846	3
P&R Ball Handler	12.4%	.821	10
Cut	9.2%	1.104	27
Post-Up	8.9%	.797	20

Stats provided by Synergy Sports

Jrue Holiday Attacking The Rim

In the playoffs, a diversified offense is very valuable, as opposing teams will have a really hard time picking what to stop. With that in mind, the Sixers are the team that present more of a problem than the aging Celtics. Even with a healthy Ray Allen, it doesn’t seem like the Celtics have enough weapons to get past the first round. Plus, Rondo’s unwillingness to shoot the open jump shot allows his man to gum up the works. Neither of these teams can seriously threaten the Bulls or the Heat, but the Sixers are a young team building for the future.