Lakers vs. Thunder: Keys to a Los Angeles Victory in Pivotal Game 5

Things look bleak out in Lakerland.

Behind them is yet another fourth-quarter collapse, and in front lies a seemingly hopeless battle to stave off elimination at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

While it's not impossible for a team to climb out of a 3-1 series hole, it's pretty damn close. Only eight out of 192 teams (4.1 percent) have come back to win a series after trailing 3-1.

Of course, none of those 184 failures were the 2012 Lakers, who feature one of the top 10 players in NBA history and two of the most talented seven-footers on the planet. So while you certainly shouldn't bet on L.A. to pull of the comeback, all is not lost.

If the Lakers do these three things in Monday's Game 5, they can extend the series and return to the Staples Center for Game 6.

Go To Andrew Bynum Late

I know Kobe Bryant has this reputation as a clutch performer, but he's not nearly as good in the final minutes as many think.

In the regular season, he shot just 32.7 percent in the clutch (defined as the last five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime, with neither team ahead by more than five points).

Bynum, meanwhile, led the league by shooting a ridiculous 82.1 percent on clutch field goals.

Although the numbers may seem a little shocking, they do make sense. While Bynum's looks come with a few feet of the rim, Kobe is content with jacking up contested fadeaways, often with more than one defender in his face.

Although I love Kobe, he needs to swallow his ego down the stretch and let Bynum take over.

Keep Bynum and Pau Gasol Involved

Similarly to what I said above, Bynum and/or Gasol need to touch the ball every single time down the floor.

Kobe is one of the five or six best scorers in the history of the game, but if he goes into takeover mode in the fourth quarter, the Lakers have no shot.

In Game 4, L.A. was up by nine points after three quarters. During that time frame, Bynum and Gasol combined for 26 points on 12-for-23 shooting from the field.

In the fourth quarter, they took just two field-goal attempts (9.1 percent of the Lakers' fourth-quarter shots) and the Thunder outscored L.A. 32-20.

Also in the fourth quarter, Kobe hit just 1-of-9 field goals (technically 2-of-10, but I refuse to count that meaningless buzzer-beater), accounting for 45.5 percent of his team's total shot attempts.

If the Game 5 numbers are anywhere near those, the Lakers will be eliminated.

Gasol Must Be a Monster

Now that is the Pau Gasol I want to see.

When Gasol is relentless on the boards and assertive in looking for his shot, the Lakers are simply a different team. Kobe himself called out Gasol for his lack of aggression after Game 4, and he couldn't be more right.

The Lakers desperately need Gasol to be in attack mode throughout the game. He's got to attempt more than 10 field goals and he can't pass up wide open shots down the stretch, like in Game 4 when he committed a costly turnover instead of just shooting the ball.

Although he's often scrutinized, I'm not too worried about Gasol's ability to step up. In Game 7 against the Nuggets this year, Pau went for 23 points, 17 rebounds, six assists and four blocks in 41 minutes.

If he can have a similarly dominant performance on Monday, the Lakers will have a great chance of winning.