Crappy end to an otherwise awesome game. Too bad the refs ended up deciding they needed some attention. Flush and move on.
1) In the defense of the refs. We shot 17 more free throws -on their home court- and were only whistled for 15 fouls. Maybe ratchet the complaining down a little bit.
2) In defense of Luka. You can’t throw a superstar out for that. If you can’t see the player (as was the case) you can’t throw him out, you have to allow them to be who they are: elite competitors in the midst of an epic battle. That ejection changed everything.
3) Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers. Just so very many giveaways, need to wrangle that issue or you can lose a playoff series real quick. LeBron, Luka and Austin combined for 13. Need to be better.
4) Control the defensive glass. If it weren’t for Vanderbilt (a big 8 offensive rebounds), the disparity in offensive rebounding would have been astronomical. As it was we still couldn’t box out to save our lives. Another season long issue rearing it’s head. Between the offensive rebounds and the turnovers they got 24 shots up than we did. Small wonder we lost.
5) Not enough D. OKC had a fairly easy breezy time scoring the ball. 50% shooting on far more attempts was more than enough to offset the free throw line disparity. Need to get more physical, make it a priority to keep teams off the glass and , in general, shore up the defense on ball screens.
Looks like Michael and I had it backwards, we both thought they would win last night and lose the first game. At any rate, need to buckle up and get ready for Dallas tonight.
Honestly, last night was probably Vando’s best game since coming back. He changed the narrative in the second half and if we hadn’t seen Luka booted who knows what could have happened.
The game was actually tilting in our favor until Luca’s ejection.
Nice post Jamie. I agree there was no excuse for tossing Luka. Court side fans can be obnoxious and a player should not be punished for yelling back. As for the turnovers, all turnovers are not created equally. We had a lot in the first game. But they were dead ball turnovers. These were live. For as great as LeBron is, boy does he make a lot of bone head turnovers. We also really missed Rui. Are small ball line up is so much better when his big body is in. Fortunately there will not be any more back to backs the rest of the year. Because of our weakness in the middle we need both LeBron and Rui available if we are going to win.
Yep, I agree, Michael.
I think players should be treated all the same….I know everyone is saying Luka shouldn’t have been kicked out (ignoring the bonehead ref action) because he’s Luka (a top player in the league)…players should be treated pretty much equally ….I remember seeing Draymond trying to incite the fans after one of his incidents….not leaving the court….he obviously gets away with far too much complaining and antics….the line should be a solid line….and anyone that crosses it….oh well!!! (I didn’t watch the replay of the Luka ejection…it’s history…hopefully the ref will get a good lecturing and will not be anti-Laker ref down the road!!! I hope the Lakers will take out their anger about the game against The Thunder….if they meet down the road…if not, it’s a lesson to focus on destroying the opponent to shut the fans up….and have the refs instruct security to control obnoxious fans…it must not have been pleasant for all the people around the idiot.