Los Angeles Lakers: 3 Key Reasons for Loss to Oklahoma City Thunder

The L.A. Lakers struggled to do anything positive Thursday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder. After a promising win against the Dallas Mavericks, the Lakers failed to prove anything.

Oklahoma City started off slower than usual in the first half, but once they found their groove, they proved better than Los Angeles in every aspect of the game.

What's to follow are three key reasons why the Lakers couldn’t add a win to their record.

1. A Struggling Kobe Bryant Was No Good in This Game

To say Kobe Bryant picked up where he left off Thursday night would be an understatement. The Lakers as a team need to remember their strength is in the paint. While in past years—primarily seasons 2004-07—the Lakers have been weak down low, this time around they aren’t weak in the paint at all.

They have two amazing big men who can score at will, and for Kobe Bryant to bring the ball down the court and try to score turnaround jumpers, the only word that comes to mind is “unacceptable.”

Kobe Bryant is a superstar, but he has the luxury of being able to be extremely selective with his shots because of the two bigs he has on his team. If Kobe doesn’t start picking his spots better, he can expect more 7-of-24 nights the rest of the way down the stretch.

2. Kevin Durant Is Just Too Good

In the first half, Metta World Peace was able to cause three turnovers for the OKC superstars: two for Kevin Durant and one for Russell Westbrook. It looked promising until the second half started. Kevin Durant scored 33 point on 12-of-22 attempts from the field.

If the Lakers plan to beat the Thunder anytime in the future, Kevin Durant must be stopped. The way the Thunder played defense against Kobe Bryant is the same way the Lakers need to attack Kevin Durant. They must force him to make tough shots and must deny him the ability to score at will.

3. The Lakers as a Whole Were Not Effective

The Laker bench scored 11 points. Most notably, Matt Barnes, who played nearly 19 minutes, was scoreless. The Lakers were playing catch up the entire game and when the starters did get rest, the bench was unable to lift them up.

The starters struggled, and the lack of scoring from the team as a whole proved to be the final dagger. At one point in the fourth quarter, the Lakers trailed by 12 and then spent the rest of the game exchanging baskets, unable to get a defensive stop and unable to capitalize on offense when they did get a stop.

With Thursday night's win, the Thunder tied the Miami Heat for the best record in the league. The Lakers end the first half of the season with a loss. And one has to think, should the Lakers meet the Thunder at any point in the playoffs, it’s hard to imagine the Lakers winning a best-of-7 series.

Kobe Bryant and the Lakers should use the All-Star break as a chance to re-group. Once the break ends, they need to be prepared to hustle the second half of the season, because if they don’t they may not have a chance to see late June.