If the OKC Thunder victory over the Lakers taught us one simple lesson last evening it’s that chemistry in the bubble matters!
Although every team spouts out how close they are and how the bubble is serving to bring everyone closer that’s simply not true. For the OKC Thunder, we’ve witnessed countless ways via their words and actions that they might be the closest crew in the bubble.
Watch teams when they are facing adversity for the best tells. In the case of the OKC Thunder, they congregate together. Put their arms around each other and talk through what’s occurring on the court. Other teams have been witnessed yelling at each other. And while that doesn’t mean those clubs can’t win it does point to that intangible of chemistry.
Chris Paul has repeatedly pointed to the fact this Thunder team is special. We consistently see them hanging out, hear their pressers where everyone cites the team over their own value, and are quick to blame themselves if something goes wrong. They are a brotherhood and one that is extremely close-knit. That quality will serve a greater benefit the deeper the clubs move into the postseason.
When a team is this close and are at a stressful point in the game, the trust they have in one another will pay dividends.
The team the club beat last night say they are close – but are they? When things weren’t working for the Lakers there was none of the arms around shoulders occurring on that side of the floor. Rather there were disgruntled faces, some players trying to move away from others and even techs getting handed out as the referees came under fire by those looking for ways to express their anger.
Moving forward, the Lakers play the Rockets tonight in the second game of their back-to-back set. The last time Houston and LA played it was February 6th and the Rockets beat LA.
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This match could serve as a perfect elixir for the anemic Lakers’ offense that ranks dead last in the bubble (96.6 points per game). With the small ball style of Houston, Davis could score 40 or more and since the Rockets only play defense in segments of games the Lakers could break out of their offensive slumber.
That would be fine with the Thunder who moved back into the fifth seed by virtue of owning the tiebreak over the Rockets.
No doubt, the team from LA who is constantly in the spotlight will face a barrage of questions over another loss and their missing offense.
If the Lakers beat the Rockets it would give OKC additional padding over Houston.
While LeBron James is still the king and Anthony Davis is a beast – – ask yourself if the best position for the Thunder is to finish fourth or fifth playing (hopefully) the Jazz and then the Lakers. The Nuggets and Clippers are the worst matchups for the Thunder so they should avoid them as long as possible and cross fingers things fall OKC’s way.
Notably, updates suggest LeBron James won’t play but Russell Westbrook is also out.
Regardless of what happens in the Lakers-Rockets match the game from Wednesday served to remind this bubble is an entirely new situation for all teams. Ultimately, the teams who have the best chemistry and combine that with effort and force stand a very good chance of being the teams to make the deepest runs in the postseason.
Next up the OKC Thunder play the desperate Memphis Grizzlies in a late Friday afternoon match. Check back with us in the morning for the preview of that match.