AP

The Lakers were up 7 points with 2 minutes to go. And lost.

And by lost, I mean lost any real chance at the series. Do you really think the Lakers can win four of the next five games? The Thunder are the better team, the Lakers could not afford to give away a game, they could not afford any mental lapses.

But “mental lapse” pretty much defines the Lakers final two minutes. However, one of those mistakes was not Metta World Peace’s pass to Steve Blake for an open three with the game on the line. That was smart basketball. The mistakes were a whole host of decisions in the minutes before that — including a number of poor choices by Kobe Bryant. That final play itself was a desperation play design with 5.9 seconds left which would not have led to a better shot than the one Blake took.

It was a lot of bad choices. Andrew Bynum summed it up best, via Lakers reporter Mike Trudell.

“Man that was crazy. We’re better than Santa Claus, we like giving out gifts. We give out games, contracts and rings.”

This used to be how the Lakers would win games — staging improbable comebacks with a combination of luck, brains and good shot making. Now that’s the Thunder.

Lakers fans and media seem to be focusing on the final play, when down 1 with 5.7 seconds left Blake took an open corner three rather than the team forcing the ball to Kobe with a pass over the top of an athletic defense.

But that’s not where they lost it. That’s just where they didn’t hang on.

The Lakers lost it when they shot 25 percent in the fourth quarter overall and scored just 12 points. They lost it by straying from going to Bynum in the last couple minutes. The Lakers lost it with turnovers. They lost it with bad shots. The Lakers lost it in the minutes leading up to Blake’s shot, not on the shot itself.

Fans saying Kobe didn’t get the chance to make the heroic final shot miss the point that the Lakers would not have needed to if Kobe had played better in the couple minutes prior to that. Kobe made one terrible pass for a turnover to Durant that led to a dunk. He had another pass — a poorly timed one by Blake — go off his hands. Kobe rushed and airballed a three pointer with six seconds left on the shot clock after a play became scrambled, when he had time to get a better look.

Then there was the Lakers and Kobe’s biggest strategic mistake. Kevin Durant hit what would be the game winner with 18.6 seconds left on the clock. The Lakers called a timeout and what should have been discussed in that huddle was that the Thunder had a foul to give.

Instead, the Lakers came out and (after another timeout) threw the ball to Kobe who dribbled it out and made his isolation move with 7 seconds left and then got fouled by Thabo Sefolosha, stopping the clock with 5.7.

Kobe had to go earlier. Draw that foul earlier. Or, get a better shot earlier with the ball in his hands. It is a simple truth — you would rather have the lead and defend a last second shot than have to make one against pressure defense. The Lakers had Kobe dribbling the ball out for nearly 11 seconds rather than using that time for a play that could have gotten them a better look. So what if they had to defend a Durant hero ball shot after that? It’s always better to have the lead. It’s always better to have to defend a last shot.

So let’s talk about that final play — the Lakers have run it before and it’s not pretty. (Follow that link to see it fail against New Orleans.) The play has Kobe coming off a flare screen and going to the corner of the court opposite where Metta World Peace was inbounding to catch a risky pass over the top of the defense. Mike Brown said after the game Kobe was open, but he was not yet. That pass would have been dangerous at best.

Even when it goes well this play calls for a 30-foot pass over the top of an athletic defense so that Kobe can take a 20+ foot shot fading away from the basket. That’s the play that’s going to win you a game?

The look that Blake got was a good one — an open shot with his feet set that is better than some 25-foot off-balance Kobe leaner. Yes, Blake was cold, but Kobe wasn’t exactly hot in the final minutes. Blake has to take that, and we can’t blame World Peace for making that pass, he made the right basketball play. The shot just didn’t fall.

We can discuss how there seemed to be no thought to getting either of the Lakers good passing 7-footers the ball in that spot. But the final shot was a good look.

The Lakers came in to Thursday night with a better defensive plan, they ground down the pace, they hedged on Durant’s curls and forced the issue with both him and Russell Westbrook. The Thunders stars and scoring machines were passing a lot. Mike Brown made some good moves.

But he can’t escape some blame for those final minutes. Neither can Kobe. Neither can any of the Lakers players. This was a team loss in the final two minutes.

Those minutes cost them any real shot at the series.

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AP

Chris Bosh was back in the Miami Heat facility on Monday, not taking part in practice for Game 2 against Indiana but showing support for his teammates and getting some rehab.

To his credit, he didn’t duck the media like most guys when injured, he went out and answered questions for five minutes. The Heat have posted the video of the interview online, here are some hightlights

How’s feeling?

“It’s sore. Sore. With all the games and then that on top of it, it’s sore. Just something I have to deal with.”

How long will he be out?

“It’s something we’re taking day by day. It’s not the worst thing that could have happened, so that was good news. We started treatment and everything, it’s a process and we’ll see how my body responds.” (He later said he’s not sure if he could be back for this series or miss the entire playoffs.)

Could he be back for this series?

“There have been so many curveballs throughout my career and really throughout this season, nothing would surprise me.”

What is the rehab for this?

“Rest. Take my vitamins. Eat good. Just do what the training staff asks me to do.”

How the injury happened.

“I was just going up for a dunk and I felt it when I went up. I exploded off my right leg and I felt it pretty much right away.”

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So what do the Los Angeles Lakers need to do to improve in Game 2 vs. the Thunder?

A brief list:

1. Do not be terrible

2. Defend jumpshots better

3. Have Pau Gasol act like an NBA player

4. Work the ball inside to draw more contact and get to the line

5. Again, do not be terrible.

That pretty much covers it.

The Lakers were annihilated in Game 1 by a Thunder team that had an offensive rating above 130. That’s on par with the offensive efficiency of the Death Star. Thermonuclear weaponry does less damage. They need a complete and total change in Game 2 to survive. They need to challenge on the perimeter pick and roll more, attacking the ball handler and on the pull-up jumper. They need to rotate better to find the shooters. They left Kevin Durant open in the corner for three at one point, for crying out loud.

The ball has to go to Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol more. Gasol can get his shot over Serge Ibaka when he wants it. He’s got to be aggressive and not just wilt away from the action. Kobe Byrant had an off game, but most of his looks were shots he makes at least at a 40 percent clip most nights. It’s unlikely he’ll have another night like that. Ramon Sessions was a hot mess, and needs to set the tone with aggressiveness. He need to push the ball, but has to do so without messing with the Lakers’ slow-it-down pace.

Have I mentioned they need to not play terribly?

For the Thunder, just do that. What you did in Game 1, just do more of that. Because that worked well. They need to hit shots it the big key. When their mid-range game is wet, there’s just no way to stop their offense. They have too many weapons. James Harden needs to have a more efficient night, and Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka need to do a better job on rebounding, but that may be unavoidable. Bynum and Gasol are just too big.

This is a big game. If the Lakers make a strong showing, it can give them momentum going back home to try and wrangle control of this series. A win, and no one will remember Game 1, all of a sudden the Lakers will be in position to steal this series by holding serve. But another blowout loss, another destruction at the hands of the Thunder?

That big red “Panic” button is going to start glowing red hot, screaming “PUSH ME!” to everyone in Hollywood.

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We remember the original Dream Team — the pros sent to the 1992 Barcelona Olympics including Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley and others — just rolling teams. The won the Olympic gold medal by an average of nearly 20 points a game and had the opposing teams asking for autographs afterward.

But a new documentary about the 20th anniversary of that team (to air on NBA TV June 13) also talks about and has footage of the game they lost.

It wasn’t a game so much as a scrimmage in La Jolla, Calif., against a group of college stars featuring Grant Hill, Chris Webber and Bobby Hurley, among others. The footage shows the speedy little point guard Hurley slicing into the teeth of the USA defense and carving the dream team up pretty good. However, USA head coach Chuck Daly had the scoreboard turned off before reporters were allowed in the gym.

Current Team USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski said he thinks Daly threw the game with a purpose. From the AP:

“He threw the game. You know, Chuck threw the game,” Krzyzewski, then a U.S. assistant and the current head coach, said on the documentary. “If you look how much Jordan played and how he subbed guys in, not picking up, not making any adjustments, he knew what he was doing.”

The reason — to let the Dream Team know they could be beaten. To let them know they were not invincible. But Daly would have had to throw it because no other team on the planet at that time could have beaten the dream team. They were as invincible as a team may ever have been.

I wouldn’t be nearly as confident that the Team USA heading to London this summer, 20 years later, will be as invincible. Thanks in part to the worldwide phenomenon of the Dream Team, the rest of the world is starting to catch up to us in basketball.

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Reuters

It seems weird to say after two games that have felt like Sahara Desert of watchable offense, but going into Game 3 both Boston and Philadelphia are thinking about locking down their defense.

But that speaks to the mindsets of why these teams are here.

Boston is struggling to score with Paul Pierce and Ray Allen dragging bum legs around the court, so finding a way to get Rajon Rondo going or squeeze more points out of Kevin Garnett matters. (Is it time to use Pierce more as an at-the-arc shooting threat because of how he is moving?) But what they really need to do is find a way to cut off what Philadelphia is doing well this series — dribble penetration and getting to the line.

Jrue Holiday got in the lane and had six shots at the rim in Game 2, sparking the scoring Philadelphia got. Holiday had just as many shots at the rim as Rajon Rondo, but Holiday can also knock down the three (4-6 in Game 2) and that balance threw off the Celtics defense. Evan Turner also was creating offense off dribble penetration. It meant Philadelphia took 21 free throw attempts to Boston’s 9. (Philly had 20 free throw attempts in Game 1, also.)

It’s not that the Celtics played bad defense — they gave up just 87.2 points per 100 possessions in Game 2 — but with their offense dragging like and anchor their defense has to be better. Which means better individual defense, staying in front of their man, and in particularly it means Rondo winning his battle with Holiday by a wider gap.

Boston also needs to own the boards — Indiana grabbed the offensive rebound on 26.8 percent of their missed shots in Game 2. That will be a key stat in Game 3 because with two struggling offenses second chances like that can swing games.

Back at home, the Sixers can look for a boost from role players — Thaddeus Young has not yet found his groove this series but they need them. Lou Williams is not exactly a role player, he led the 76ers in scoring this season, but they need and expect better than 3-13 from him in Game 3.

But when they spoke they spoke about defense, specifically about not letting Pierce or Allen get in a groove. That duty again will fall to Andre Iguodala. Philly has taken away many of the easy buckets from the Celtics and if they continue to do that Boston will continue to struggle to put up points.

The biggest surprise in this series has been Lavoy Allen, the Sixers bench big man who has played good defense on Kevin Garnett and pitched in 10 points last game. If he keeps it up at home the Sixers are in a good spot.

They are in a good spot in general — Philly played Boston even on the road, showed poise and out-executed them at the end of a close Game 2, and now they come home. The pace of these games has been a little faster than Boston played this season and if Philly can up that a little more, get a few more easy transition buckets, they will be hard to beat.

There’s no reason to think Game 3 will not be a close, low-scoring affair like the last two games. But the Sixers come home after a confidence-boosting road win and if they can build on that this series could turn sharply in their favor.

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Reuters

Ty Lawson is at the heart of the Denver Nuggets’ future. That much was clear as the Nuggets played gutty, fun basketball and pushed the Lakers to seven games — Lawson averaged 19 points a game on 51.4 percent shooting and added 7 assists per game as the point guard.

After his fourth year in the NBA Lawson is now up for a contract extension and both sides want to work one out that keeps Lawson playing in the mile high city, reports the Denver Post.

Asked about possibly getting a contract extension from the Nuggets this summer, Lawson told The Denver Post: “It’s definitely a goal. I want to be here long term. I’m pretty sure my agent and Masai (Ujiri, the Nuggets’ executive vice president of basketball operations) will talk this summer.”

Asked Sunday about Lawson, Ujiri said: “He’s going to be a big part of the Denver Nuggets. We’re excited. Ty is going to grow even more. He made a little jump, and he’ll continue to make jumps as he gets older.”

Lawson will be back with the Nuggets either way, he either works out an extension or comes back for a fifth season then will try out the market as a restricted free agent next summer.

But if you’re committed to a guy and want to make him happy, you do the extension (they can talk about it after July 1). Denver has already done that with Danilo Gallinari (four-years, $42 million). I expect we’ll see the same here.

Lawson is not a max deal guy but he can get some long-term security and Denver can lock down Lawson for five years at what might be below market rate in a couple years (if Lawson keeps taking steps forward). While the numbers will be different, think of what Danny Ainge did in Boston locking down Rajon Rondo at a price he could no longer get.

Some work needs to be done to fill out the rest of the Nuggets roster if they are going to take the next steps forward, but Lawson will be part of that future.

JaVale McGee, on the other hand, is a restricted free agent this summer and it will be interesting to see what the market will bear for him.

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The Lakers had this in the bag, up 7 with two minutes to go. But then the Thunder went and won a game that felt a lot like how the Lakers used to win games — a little bit of luck and some great shots.

The last of the those shots is above. Kevin Durant had not been sharp all game but he demands the ball in the clutch, Metta World Peace gets slowed by the pick, Andrew Bynum switches on to Durant and tries to stay in front of him but cannot, Pau Gasol slides over to help and Durant rises above them for the game winner.

After an unimpressive last Lakers possession, the Thunder get the win and are up 2-0. I’m not working on my Spurs/Thunder series preview yet, but I might start researching it in the next 24 hours.

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AP

Two years ago, the Oklahoma City Thunder faced the Los Angeles Lakers in the first-round of the 2010 NBA Playoffs. It was supposed to be a nice learning experience for a team on the rise, a quick lesson from the reigning champs as to how the playoffs work. Instead, the world was introduced to the intensity of the Oklahoma City crowd, and the Lakers generally looked inept in their efforts to dominate the less experienced team. The Lakers went on to win the title, because that’s kind of their thing. Struggle when they don’t have to actually try, then kill everything in front of them once they get going. The league took notice, though, and it was the big step forward for the Thunder into the spotlight.

My, how things have changed.

Now the Thunder enter Monday night as the prohibitive favorite, having handled the Lakers in all but their last meeting, an overtime home win for the Lakers that featured Metta World Peace taking out the Thunder’s third best player. The student has become the master, so to speak. But can they win out over the more experienced team, with Kobe Bryant and a huge size advantage?

Five things to note as the series kick off.

1. If You Want Blood,  You Got It: This thing is no longer a friendly little-brother thing. It’s a full-blown rivalry. The Thunder have taken it to the Lakers, and James Harden was actually talking trash to Kobe Bryant in a Thunder win earlier this season. You know, the one before Metta World Peace “accidentally” elbowed him in the side of the head giving him a concussion. Kendrick Perkins has had an issue with Andrew Bynum for years dating back to his Boston days. Serge Ibaka goes at Pau Gasol, and Kevin Durant hates being guarded by MWP. The Lakers will always think they rule the roost and the Thunder just knocked off the Mavericks who tossed them last year. They have something to prove. This is going to be a rough series with emotions running high in the madhouse that is Chesapeake Energy Arena

2. On Guard: Anyone else notice that Ty Lawson destroyed the Lakers? Because Ty Lawson destroyed the Lakers. The Lakers have lacked a good perimeter defender for point guards for years. Ramon Sessions has not helped the situation. Russell Westbrook is the same model as Lawson, fast and explosive, only maybe faster, definitely more explosive, and a better overall scorer. In the 2010 series, Kobe Bryant switched onto Westbrook and did the lion’s share on him. The problem with that is that James Harden has stepped up and become the playmaker that OKC needs as a third option. If Bryant handles Westbrook, they’re just letting Harden loose. Switch MWP onto Harden to defend him without elbowing him, and there’s that problem of Kevin Durant. Someone’s going to get loose for OKC. It’s just a matter of the Lakers picking their poison.

3. Big And Bad And Lazy All Over: Kendrick Perkins does really well against huge athletic centers. But Andrew Bynum’s size is still going to win out most times… if he exerts himself. Bynum could have ended the Nuggets series in five games had he tried. He chose not to, and the series went to seven. How much effort will he give in this series? Likewise, Serge Ibaka is going to have a hard time with Pau Gasol who can shoot over him from mid-range which is where Ibaka struggles. If Gasol is engaged, which again, flip a coin, the Lakers have so much length they can punish the Thunder inside. If not, the game becomes about transition and perimeter and that’s where the Thunder live.

4. Unlikely Heroes: The playoffs have been rife with unlikely heroes. Among these was Steve Blake, hitting five threes in Game 7 vs. Denver. Can the Lakers get great shooting from Blake and MWP over the course of a series despite all evidence to the contrary outside of Game 7? Can Daequan Cook or Thabo Sefolosha makes plays? What about Jordan Hill? No, seriously, what about Jordan Hill? This series is likely to be close and whoever gets a step up from the unlikely guys may come out on top.

5. The Finest Hour: Kobe Bryant was magnificent in Game 6 in a lost cause. In Game 7, he played in the flow of the offense and encouraged his teammates to do their job. Kevin Durant struggled early on vs. the Mavericks before breaking loose. This series is about two evenly matched teams with history and talented rosters. But it’s about Kobe vs. Durant. The Thunder don’t have a defender like MWP to stick on Bryant, but Durant is the best scorer in the series. Either Bryant is going to add to his already insane legend, or Durant’s going to make the biggest statement of his.

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In Game 1, everything went wrong for the Lakers, everything went right for the Thunder. Thunder won. In Game 2, for 46 minutes, at least some things went right for the Lakers, everything went wrong for the Thunder. The pace was slow. The defense was incredible for the Lakers. The Thunder weren’t hitting jumpers. A seven-point lead with two minutes. Hold onto the ball, hold onto the lead, gain control of the series, go back to L.A. having rattled the kids in blue.

And then.

Disaster.

77-75 OKC over L.A.

As the Thunder closed on a 9-0 run, you couldn’t help but think of how often the Lakers had done this exact thing to so many teams. They were the ones who made the key steals late. They were the ones who waited for the opponent to crack. They were the ones who made clutch plays. But now? Now it’s OKC. They won when they played flawless, they won when they played terribly. And now it’s 2-0 OKC.

For Oklahoma City, there are reasons to be concerned but a ton of reasons for confidence. When the shots didn’t fall, they won. They had just a 92 offensive efficiency Wednesday night, and yet got the win. They had an off night offensively for the second-best scoring machine in the league, and they walk away with a 2-0 lead. Defensively, they stepped up to the challenge. Had they bent more inside, the game could have broken open. Had Thabo Sefolosha not done such a marvelous job on Kobe Bryant, helping him to a 9-25 night, they may not have sustained. The Thunder defense kept them in it, the Thunder’s athletes took the momentum, the Lakers’ ineptitude opened the door, and Kevin Durant slammed it shut.

And for a fun twist on a narrative, instead of LeBron James failing in the clutch, it was Kobe Bryant with this line: 0-2, zero points, 1 turnover, one bad pass knocked out off of him, one bad miss, one airball, no final shot, and a whole lot of frustration.  Bryant was clearly livid both after Kevin Durant’s game winner and upon turning around to see Steve Blake taking a three-pointer for the win instead of, you know, him.

It’s not wise to get riled up about Blake, however. This is a shooter who hit five threes against the Denver Nuggets in Game 7. He was wide open. I mean, wide open. The pass had to be made, the shot had to be taken. It just didn’t fall. This is life in the NBA, the reality of clutch vs. the myth. Bryant, though, certainly struggled and his play down the stretch may have thrown a little dirt on the Lakers.

But this series is far from over. The Lakers proved Wednesday that they can throw some kinks in the chain of OKC’s mighty system, and headed back to L.A. they have to be hopeful a few more things will go their way. The question is whether they can force OKC into the same halfcourt troubles it had Wednesday night, or if they get busted open by the same team that torched them in Game 1.

The Lakers can get right back into this thing with a win on Friday. But it’s a back to back set against a younger, fresher, hungrier team that seems to have all the answers, that can cross the finish line even when they stumble. The Lakers? They’re just trying to get the dust out of their mouth.

The Lakers had answers for the Thunder until the end. Then the ghosts that the Lakers usually wreak on their opponents grabbed hold of L.A.. By the throat.

Closing note: Andrew Bynum laughed as he left the floor.

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Getty Images

Metta World Peace will not be reaching out to James Harden in Game 1 regarding that whole “elbowing him in the head and knocking him unconscious” bit that happened last month.

From the L.A. Times:

World Peace has not spoken to Harden since elbowing him in the second quarter of the Lakers 114-106 double-overtime victory April 22.

He didnt expect to greet him before the game.

“He doesnt start. I only fist-bump the starting five,” World Peace said. “I don’t fist-bump subs.”

via Lakers get Metta World Peace back for Game 7 – latimes.com.

Nice.

It should be noted that the whole “fist-bump/hug” thing is only done by starters. So if MWP is just being literal, then fine. You’d think he’d say “I’m not NOT going to, I’m just not going to go out of my way.” This didn’t really sound like that, but that’s up for interpretation.

I get the whole “not being friendly with the enemy” thing. It’s a little absurd considering how chummy these guys were during the lockout and how they could wind up playing on the same team at any moment, but sure.  MWP came off the bench in 19 of his 64 games this season. So why throw the jab? Is he not going to fist-bump Manu Ginobili? Again, he’s being honest from a literal context, it just seems an awful lot like looking down at a guy he nearly knocked out.

You can say it’s just a benign comment about how players fist-bump on the floor before the game, but given what we know of the growing dislike between the two teams, it doesn’t seem like it.

This series is going to be full of love and warmth, I can tell.

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