The Los Angeles Lakers lost a heartbreaker Friday night when the team fell to the short-handed Oklahoma City Thunder at Staples Center. The game went back-and-forth nearly the entire 48 minutes, but the Lakers had a chance to steal a victory in the final seconds. However, Kobe Bryant missed the game winning jumper with the Lakers down by one, with the team eventually losing 104-103.
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Los Angeles now stands at 8-18, while the Thunder are continuing to climb the Western Conference standings. A win Friday night would have put the Lakers 8-8 in their last 16 games and would have certainly been a great confidence booster for the players.
The Lakers were without their second best scorer down the stretch, Nick Young, and that left a gapping hole in the rotation. Young later spoke to the media and talked about the play of Thunder big man Steven Adams via Lakers Nation reporter Serena Winters:
Nick Young on ejection and Flagrant, called Adams: “Sneaky dirty player” also said “not my first rodeo with him.”
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) December 20, 2014
Young picked up the flagrant foul after elbowing Adams and it was odd seeing the Lakers’ star lose his temper like that. Adams has gotten under the skin of other players before and has been involved in many altercations so far in his NBA career.
There is no doubt the Lakers could have used Young in the closing minutes, but the play of Wayne Ellington and Jeremy Lin was very impressive. Those two guards did a great job defending the Thunder and were able to execute the offense well on the other side of the court. Nevertheless, the Lakers lost yet another close game and will be looking to rebound on Sunday when they travel to Sacramento.
[divide]Lakers Honor Kobe Bryant Before Game Against Thunder