On Sunday, the Oklahoma City Thunder made its franchise playoff debut, against the defending champion Lakers, of all teams. While Kevin Durant and company managed to keep the game close, Los Angeles was in control throughout, something that was not surprising to our Thunder blog, Welcome To Loud City. This is a young team, and it showed.
Oklahoma City Is A Young Team, And On Sunday, It Showed
Early on, the Thunder looked like deer in the headlights. The Lakers created their lead by driving to the basket down low, and they pulled away with three back-to-back threes. After this disastrous first quarter, the Thunder almost looked dead in the beginning of the 2nd, falling behind by 17. But the, individual players started to shine through. Collison brought his veteran presence. Westbrook starting driving to the hole so fast that he was almost like Sonic the Hedgehog. When it was all said and done, we were within 8 points at the start of the half.
The rest of the game was competitive, like it should have been. The Thunder were always threatening to come back, and at one point got it to within 6 before the start of the fourth. But they just couldn't make a run. In the end, the fact that they fell so far behind so early dug them into a big hole. This, coupled with the fact that the Thunder would make stupid mistakes whenever they would go on a run combines for a relatively uneventful loss.
For more reaction and analysis, and all things Thunder, head over to Welcome to Loud City.
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