The Thunder were coming off their first loss of the season against Denver. It didn’t help that the next opponent would be the number one team in the Western Conference LA Lakers. This Thunder team has made believers out of everyone all season long and in Orlando, they’ve proved everyone wrong. The Thunder played against the Lakers tonight without Dennis Schröder, Mike Muscala, and Terrence Ferguson in the lineup. Chris Paul came to the rescue in this one as he set the tone from the tipoff against the Lakers. One thing about Chris Paul’s game that stands out is the fact he can get his teammates involved while getting his game going too.
Tonight CP3 showed that he can do anything on the court and it didn’t matter if you had a big defender on him or a smaller defender. The way that Chris’ able to crossover players and still get to his sweet mid-range spot on a nightly basis is amazing. Paul has had an amazing year and a lot of that has gone to his new diet coming into the season. This Thunder team will go as far as CP3 brings them and he showed that OKC can hang with the best teams in the league. Chris Paul finished the game with 21 points, 6 assists, 7 rebounds on the night against LA. The Lakers gave Chris Paul a couple of looks on the defensive end but they weren’t enough to slow him down.
Chris Paul’s leadership has been on full display and it’s been rubbing off on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the right way. Shai had a quiet game tonight with 13 points but still was able to get people involved. One thing about Shai is the fact that he can affect the stat sheet without having the big numbers pop out. With Chris playing the point guard it’s been giving Shai multiple chances to defend players at different positions. Shai wants to be great and has shown that he’s willing to put the time in to make that possible.
Danilo Gallinari had a nice game as well for the Thunder as he was able to pour in 19 points in only 25 minutes. Gallinari has been a great help to the team especially with the absence of Dennis Schröder. The Thunder has a mismatch at the PF position usually when Gallinari is on the floor because he can score from outside to inside on any possession. When Gallinari is hitting his 3 pointers which he did tonight against the Lakers it makes this team tough to beat. The Lakers had Kuzma and Davis on him the majority of the night and he was still able to find a crease in the defense to make his offense stand out.
The Thunder had a minor scare when Steven Adams got tangled up and fell awkwardly but he was able to come back in the game and make his presence felt. Steven Adams was the best big on the floor tonight and was able to get his jump hook going as he finished with 18 points. This Thunder team has shown a lot of heart and they’ve proven a lot of people wrong this year. If the Thunder can continue to play with this flow of the offense and take the defensive end as serious as they have all season they are destined for greatness.
The Lakers were a bit banged up tonight but that’s no excuse for the OKC eruption that came their way. When LeBron James and Anthony Davis are in the lineup no matter who you’re playing against you have a chance to win. The Thunder got Anthony Davis in some early foul trouble that had the Lakers leaning on the bench and LeBron a lot. OKC was able to force the referees into making some calls tonight that helped them by their aggressiveness. On the night LeBron finished with quiet 19 points and 11 rebounds against OKC.
Once Davis got in foul trouble you can tell that LeBron was going to have to try to pick up the load but with multiple defenders on him, it wore him down a little. Anthony Davis only had 9 points after he erupted for 42 points the other night and that was because OKC got him in foul trouble from the tip. The second player from the Lakers that was able to put in some work tonight and help out was Dion Waiters. On the night Waiters had 14 points and was able to get it going but it was already too late as OKC pulled away.
Up next the OKC Thunder will take on the Memphis Grizzlies who are currently in 8th place on Friday at 3 pm.
Photo Credit: Joe Murphy / National Basketball Association / Getty
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