Just when I thought it was safe to write off my Lakers, out of nowhere came perhaps their best overall game of the season. The "Lake Show" jumped out to a 10-0 lead and never looked back as they took on the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 of their best-of-7 series last night at Staples Center. They built their lead to 31-16 after the first quarter and 55-34 at halftime. The Lakers needed to make a statement after their embarassing Game 4 loss and they more than certainly did in that first half!
Just how dominant were the Lakers in the first half? They shot a stratospheric 65%, while holding the Thunder to an abysmal 26%! Yes, that's crazy dominance! The Lakers continued to keep the pedal to the metal in the third quarter, pushing the lead to as many as 32 points. The fourth quarter was all "garbage time" as the late, great Chick Hearn would say and they cruised to a 111-87 win to take a 3-2 lead in the series.
More important than the win, is that it looked like the Lakers may have gotten that swagger of theirs back. The much-maligned Ron Artest looked like he escaped the "Bermuda Triangle" for the first time in quite a while last night. Maybe he's doing some cramming so that he can finally fit into coach Phil Jackson's complicated offensive scheme. Game 6 of the series is in Oklahoma City on Friday night. Go Lakers!
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