Originally published by LakersNation.com
The Los Angeles Lakers did some good things in Game 2 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, but they also struggled in other important areas. That ultimately saw them come up short again and they now face a 2-0 series deficit.
Luke Kennard actually had his best game since early in the first round as he knocked down 4-of-5 from the field to finish with 10 points off the bench. But the Lakers came undone in the third quarter as the Thunder overwhelmed them and Kennard feels they must be better at taking care of the ball and staying poised to stop Oklahoma City’s scoring runs.
“They do a good job of capitalizing on turnovers. Obviously that’s gonna be a big thing for us,” Kennard said after the loss. “We knew that going into it, their physicality. We just gotta stay poised, under control when they go on those runs. I think we’ve done a pretty good job of it overall, but it’s gonna take a full game, full 48 minutes.
“We’ve been in great positions throughout the game, taking the lead into halftime which was huge. But again, we need to take care of the ball, get great looks down the floor each time when we can and try to capitalize on those.”
The Lakers had 20 turnovers, which led to 26 Thunder points, but it was a 32-14 run in the third that swung everything. What made it worse for the Lakers is that it came with Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the bench with four fouls. Ajay Mitchell and Jared McCain were the spark plugs and Kennard believes the Lakers must be better prepared when those guys take over and Gilgeous-Alexander sits.
“We gotta be ready and prepared,” Kennard added. “Those guys come in, they’re a spark for them on the floor. We know that, we know what they can do and it’s on us to try to be better especially when Shai’s out of the game. They’ve won those minutes and that’s on us, it’s on me and we have to be better with that and try to take them out when we can.”
The Lakers were outscored by 15 points when Gilgeous-Alexander was on the bench, which is unacceptable. The defense has obviously been focused on limiting him and they have done a good job with that, but when he is on the bench, the Lakers must lock in even more.
“We need to up our physicality,” Kennard noted. “Obviously we’ve been putting two guys on Shai a lot. Kinda letting some of those guys get open looks, but when Shai’s off the floor we really gotta sit down and guard and try to take some of those guys out. Our physicality has to go up another level and we know that and it’s something we’ll definitely talk about and figure out.”
The Thunder are far too talented and guys like Mitchell, McCain and Cason Wallace are all capable of taking over in spurts, which is exactly what led to the Lakers’ demise in Game 2.
Rui Hachimura believes Lakers are focusing too much on SGA
This was also something that was on the mind of Rui Hachimura after the game as he spoke on his belief that the Lakers may be focusing too much on Gilgeous-Alexander and need to show more respect to the others.
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The Los Angeles Lakers did some good things in Game 2 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, but they also struggled in other important areas. That ultimately saw them come up short again and they now face a 2-0 series deficit.
Luke Kennard actually had his best game since early in the first round as he knocked down 4-of-5 from the field to finish with 10 points off the bench. But the Lakers came undone in the third quarter as the Thunder overwhelmed them and Kennard feels they must be better at taking care of the ball and staying poised to stop Oklahoma City’s scoring runs.
“They do a good job of capitalizing on turnovers. Obviously that’s gonna be a big thing for us,” Kennard said after the loss. “We knew that going into it, their physicality. We just gotta stay poised, under control when they go on those runs. I think we’ve done a pretty good job of it overall, but it’s gonna take a full game, full 48 minutes.
“We’ve been in great positions throughout the game, taking the lead into halftime which was huge. But again, we need to take care of the ball, get great looks down the floor each time when we can and try to capitalize on those.”
The Lakers had 20 turnovers, which led to 26 Thunder points, but it was a 32-14 run in the third that swung everything. What made it worse for the Lakers is that it came with Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the bench with four fouls. Ajay Mitchell and Jared McCain were the spark plugs and Kennard believes the Lakers must be better prepared when those guys take over and Gilgeous-Alexander sits.
“We gotta be ready and prepared,” Kennard added. “Those guys come in, they’re a spark for them on the floor. We know that, we know what they can do and it’s on us to try to be better especially when Shai’s out of the game. They’ve won those minutes and that’s on us, it’s on me and we have to be better with that and try to take them out when we can.”
The Lakers were outscored by 15 points when Gilgeous-Alexander was on the bench, which is unacceptable. The defense has obviously been focused on limiting him and they have done a good job with that, but when he is on the bench, the Lakers must lock in even more.
“We need to up our physicality,” Kennard noted. “Obviously we’ve been putting two guys on Shai a lot. Kinda letting some of those guys get open looks, but when Shai’s off the floor we really gotta sit down and guard and try to take some of those guys out. Our physicality has to go up another level and we know that and it’s something we’ll definitely talk about and figure out.”
The Thunder are far too talented and guys like Mitchell, McCain and Cason Wallace are all capable of taking over in spurts, which is exactly what led to the Lakers’ demise in Game 2.
Rui Hachimura believes Lakers are focusing too much on SGA
This was also something that was on the mind of Rui Hachimura after the game as he spoke on his belief that the Lakers may be focusing too much on Gilgeous-Alexander and need to show more respect to the others.
If you love our reporting, choose LakersNation.com as a preferred source on Google.
