Game Rewind: Two Gasol Games, Two Blowouts – Lakers 101, Thunder 85

You think that the Lakers are glad to have Pau Gasol back?  Though the Bearded One was only OK tonight, the Lakers once again put a serious hurting on the opposition.  That’s two games now for Pau and two blowout victory for the Lakers.  That can’t be a coincidence.

Laker fans should be the ones celebrating now the Gasol is healthy again.

Just compare this game against OKC to the overtime victory the Lakers had against the Thunder just a few weeks ago.  That previous game was a sloppy, disjointed affair that the Lakers, frankly, were lucky to escape from with a win.  But tonight the Lakers were in control early.  Whereas the first match-up was marred by 25 LA turnovers, the Lakers instead were moving the ball with ease and grace tonight, collecting 25 assists on 40 made field goals while committing just nine turnovers all night long.  Heck, the first nine Laker baskets were all assisted.  This is just a different team with Pau on board.

While the Lakers’ abilities to put the ball through the hoop tends to get most of the attention, this team not only has several talented scorers, but a vast array of exceptional passers.  Fisher, Kobe, Artest, Pau, Odom and Bynum (yes, he can pass, he just usually chooses not to) are all gifted passers.  Ball movement should never be a problem for the Lakers, but before Pau got healthy it was.  But the combination of Gasol’s exceptional passing from the post and Ron Artest’s increased comfort in the triangle have come together at the right time and the Laker offense is running like the well-oiled machine it normally is rather than the sputtering clunker OKC faced earlier this month.

• I guess it is safe to say that Bynum’s ankle injury isn’t bothering him as the big boy went off for 25 and 9 while missing just two shots all night long.
• What an absolutely sick night from Kobe Bryant.  His over the backboard shot was incredible, as was his first-quarter buzzer beater, but his ankle-breaking, yo-yo hesitation move against Thabo Sefolosha in the third quarter was phenomenal.  That should spell an end to any talk that Sefolosha is a Kobe-stopper after he did a good job containing the Mamba in the first game between these two teams.
• There are many benefits to going to Laker games, but having Will.i.am, Fergie and B-Real break into an impromptu concert during the second half is pretty spectacular.  That ain’t going to happen at no Clipper game.

Lake Show Outtakes:

• The Lakers looked terrible shooting three-pointers hitting just 2-of-14 (with both makes coming from Ron Artest).  Then again, they looked decent by comparison to James Harden of OKC who took 10 three-pointers tonight and missed them all.  Bejesus, at what point do you just give up and take a few steps in?  Yikes!
• Good thing the Lakers didn’t really need the bench tonight, especially since Lamar Odom crapped the bed in this game, shooting 1-for-6 and scoring just two points in the contest.  The bench mob did score 24, but most of that was during garbage time, so don’t go thinking that this bench situation is fixed just because Odom is coming off the bench now.
• Did anyone else notice that Adam Morrison got called on to play in the regular rotation and that Sasha Vujacic didn’t get to play until garbage time?  Yeah, falling behind Ammo in the rotation is definitely not a good thing.

Tags: Adam Morrison, Andrew Bynum, Game Rewind, James Harden, Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, Oklahoma City Thunder, Pau Gasol, Ron Artest, Sasha Vujacic, Thabo Sefolosha