NBA Playoffs 2012: 3 Things Oklahoma City Thunder Must Do to Beat the Lakers

Oklahoma City and LA won their first-round series in two different ways. However, they will both square off in the second round. 

The Thunder didn't lose a game in the first round while the Lakers needed seven to put away the Nuggets. In Game 7, Metta World Peace, Steve Blake and Pau Gasol led the Lakers past Denver, 96-87.

In the regular-season series, Oklahoma City took two of the three games and the one it lost went into double overtime. In that game, World Peace was ejected for elbowing James Harden in the neck and World Peace was suspended seven games.

Although the Thunder have home-court advantage and are the favorites, there is still some business they need to take care of. Los Angeles is a very capable team with Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum leading the way, and Gasol, Blake, World Peace and Ramon Sessions following.

Here are three things OKC must do to take care of the Lakers.

Hoard the Boards

Somehow the Lakers grabbed an astounding 24 offensive rebounds in Game 7, with 11 coming from Gasol and nine coming from Bynum.

With the Lakers up by one, Pau Gasol grabbed a Bynum miss and tipped the ball five times, and he missed every time except for the fifth time. LA grabbed four offensive boards on that one possession and it got a huge bucket thanks to Gasol's effort.

On the next Laker possession, Gasol tipped a Bynum miss into the basket for two more huge Laker points. Thanks to Gasol's team-high 23 points, the Lakers won and advanced.

Serge Ibaka and the Thunder, the NBA's fifth-best rebounding team, will have to fight for every rebound to avoid letting Los Angeles score second-chance points. Everyone will have to box out and avoid letting Gasol or Bynum steal a rebound.

Denver didn't do that, and that's why it went home.

Perform in the Clutch

Trust me; one of the games in this series will go down to the wire.

In Game 1, Kevin Durant answered in the clutch. In Game 2, James Harden hit big free throws down the stretch. In Game 4, Harden scored 29 points to rally OKC from down 13 to win and sweep the Mavericks.

However, the Lakers also happen to win a lot of close games. Kobe Bryant is known by many as the NBA's most clutch player, and Blake, World Peace, Gasol and Bynum have come up with some big plays down the stretch as well.

If the Thunder get an opportunity to win with very little time left, they will have to convert. LA usually makes the plays it needs to make when it need to make them, and OKC has shown that it can do that as well.

As long as someone steps into the spotlight and delivers, the Thunder should be fine.

Limit Kobe Bryant

This will be a hard task considering that Bryant is one of the best scorers in the NBA.

However, the Thunder might need to limit Kobe if they want to win. In Game 1 against Dallas, Jason Terry was having a good game, so Russell Westbrook was assigned to guard Terry and follow him wherever he went.

Terry didn't score another point and only got one more shot off.

In the fourth quarter of a tight game, Scott Brooks needs to try that strategy again. Bryant could get frustrated, or he could just stop hustling and not become a factor anymore. However, LA would have to win the game with big plays from Bynum, Gasol and the rest.

Down the stretch, without their leader, the Lakers could collapse. Sure, Gasol, Bynum and Blake have hit some important shots during LA's first-round series, but against Durant, Westbrook, Harden and company, the Thunder would definitely have the edge.

And they'd make the Western Conference final.