I call this a 'mini' preview because it should be fairly simple and short as to what the Los Angeles Lakers have to do in Game 3 against the Oklahoma City Thunder;
play like you did in Game 2 but this time for the complete 48 minutes of regulation.
Slow the tempo again, hold your positions, feed the big guys, play inside-out, communicate and rotate expeditiously, and attack the basket. Do not, under any circumstances, stop playing with two minutes to go in the game regardless of the lead.
It's unsure if the Thunder will shoot as well as Game 1 or as poorly as Game 2 but as long the Lakers play physical team defense then they can again limit Russell Westbrook and their big guys to low FG averages.
Lakers have a huge hole to escape from down 2 games to none in the series. No team in the NBA has ever come back down 3 games. Kobe Bryant doesn't seemed panicked by the challenge.
"I've been here before," he said. "I communicated that to the guys. Everybody will be ready to go."
The challenge is even more daunting with Game 3 tonight and Game 4 tomorrow. Tough for any team but the Lakers have older legs in Kobe, Pau Gasol, Matt Barnes and Metta World Peace. Thunder are making adjustments too and so it becomes critical that Ramon Sessions and Steve Blake make an impact on the game as needed. Sessions, having looked timid and hesitant, needs to be more aggressive and more selfish. Blake has to make open shots like he did in the Denver series. Their combined 9 points in the series will need to multiply by at least 2-3 times that to help the Lakers win.
(On a personal note, to all those idiots who tweeted malicious comments towards Steve Blake and his family, please stop it. Grow the hell up. It's a game. You are an embarrassment to Lakers fans everywhere.)
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