Lakers vs. Thunder: LA Isn't Consistent Enough to Knock off OKC

I was talking to a clerk at a mart in San Francisco recently. I didn't know if he knew basketball very well. All I knew was that he was a Los Angeles Lakers fan.

Then he said, "Lakers...sometimes they're great, sometimes...I dunno."

With that simple statement, he summed up the 2011-2012 Lakers, and I could tell he knew what he was talking about.

That has been the Lakers' problem all season long. Rarely will they all click when it matters most. They were able to escape in seven games against the Denver Nuggets in the opening series, but the Nuggets weren't supposed to even be in their league. They have stars in Kobe Bryant, Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol, but Bryant is the only consistent star of the bunch.

Gasol, for example, had three points and three rebounds in Game 6 against the Nuggets. He responded in Game 7 with 23 points, 17 rebounds and six assists. He nearly had as many points in Game 7 as he had in the previous three games combined. After Game 6, Lakers fans were calling for Gasol to be traded. Now, they love him.

Then there is Bynum. He was the best center in the NBA this season, but he has one glaring flaw: sometimes he simply doesn't care. After a loss to the Washington Wizards in March, Bynum said, via ESPN, "I was kind of loafing around and having a good time, and it caught up."

The same could be said about his performance in Games 5 and 6. Bynum may have had 27 combined rebounds in those two games, but he allowed the Nuggets to get into the paint almost at will. This, coming from the Lakers' primary post defender. He averaged 4.0 blocks in the opening round against the Nuggets, but he also gave up far too many easy layups and dunks.

Metta World Peace is back after his suspension for throwing an elbow at James Harden's face. He played solid, disruptive defense in Game 7, but he also shot 5-of-15 from the floor. Plus, you never know if he's going to blow up again. At this point, it's safe to say he's a loose cannon, whether he calls himself Metta World Peace or Ron Artest.

The Lakers face the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals on Monday night.

The Thunder are coming off a sweep of the Dallas Mavericks. In the regular season, they ranked in the top five in field goal percentage, free-throw percentage, opponents' field-goal percentage, points differential and rebounding differential. Not only are those vital categories, the Thunder demonstrated their prowess in them regularly.

It took the Lakers seven games to knock off the Nuggets. It took the Thunder four games to send the defending NBA champions packing. That's really all you need to know when it comes to how their semifinals matchup will play out.

Take it from a store clerk wearing a Lakers jersey in San Francisco.

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