OKC Thunder historic comeback victory vs. Lakers – grades
The OKC Thunder finally broke into the win column and did it in dramatic fashion taking down a franchise record on route to erasing a 26 point Lakers lead.
Well now – that was fun!
Thunder Nation has gotten hints all season this team could perhaps have a better record. The problem is while winning feels great for this season at least it’s not conducive to the end goal.
149. Final. 115. 20. 123
That the youngsters have moments in games and don’t give up fighting makes the matches more palatable to watch. We know deep down that most will still result in losses, however, it’s far more entertaining to watch your team fight than getting blown out with no one giving effort.
OKC Thunder erase 26-point deficit to beat Lakers in spectacular fashion
With the Lakers in town, most assumed it would lead to another loss especially after they jumped out to a double-digit lead. I write odds previews and for this match, I actually called this a trap game and suggested taking the Thunder and the points.
It was notable LeBron James could be out (he was) and I also noted how the Lakers defense hasn’t been close to their prior defensive prowess of the past two seasons. Turns out that was a good call — just wish I’d put some money on it – ha!
James didn’t play but Anthony Davis who was a question mark participated along with former Thunder son Russell Westbrook. LA didn’t just jump on the Thunder they pummeled the youngsters in the opening frame 41 to 19. OUCH!
OKC put up some fight rebounding in the second frame to outscore LA 37 to 31 but still trailed 72-56 entering the half.
Whatever the halftime speech was by Mark Daigneault he should bottle it for future outings as the youngsters came out playing with fight and took it to the Lakers. Emulating what LA did to start the game the Thunder scored 41 points in the third quarter (to 21) and kept up the pace to finish the game also winning the final frame 26-20 to take the game 123-115.
It was the largest comeback in OKC Thunder history.
Sure, there won’t be a lot of these games this season but this sure was nice, and doing it to the team most analysts suggest will win it all made it taste all that much sweeter!
With that let’s dive into the grades from the match.