Vitals: Thunder at Lakers Game Five

As the series returns to the Staples Center tied up, all eyes are on the surging Thunder.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 11:41 am

By: News On 6

Originally Published: Apr 27, 2010 9:42 AM CDT

Dave Carty
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

No. 1 Los Angeles Lakers at No. 8 Oklahoma City Thunder
Western Conference Quarterfinals
Series tied, 2-2.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010, 9:30 p.m. CDT
Staples Center, Los Angeles
Game 5 of 7

Anticipated Starting Lineups (Postseason Statistics)

	Oklahoma City (Away)	Los Angeles (Home)
PG	Russell Westbrook 21.75 PPG, 6.5 RPG	Derek Fisher 11.0 PPG, 3.25 APG
SG	Thabo Sefolosha 5.0 PPG, 3.75 RPG	Kobe Bryant 24.0 PPG, 1.5 Stl
SF	Kevin Durant 26.75 PPG, 9.25 RPG	Ron Artest 7.0 PPG, 3.25 RPG
PF	Jeff Green 11.75 PPG, 5.0 RPG	Pau Gasol 18.5 PPG, 11 RPG
C	Nenad Krstic 7.0 PPG, 5.0 RPG	Andrew Bynum 11.25 PPG, 9.75 RPG

Injuries
Los Angeles: G, Sasha Vujacic (ankle, out); C, D.J. Mbenga (eye, out).
Oklahoma City: None Reported.

Where to find it...
On TV: Fox Sports Oklahoma, TNT
On Radio: Thunder Radio Network

What you need to know...

Kobe Bryant, long regarded as a magician on the court, showed everyone a new trick in game four – the disappearing act. In that contest, he waited 15 minutes to take his first shot. He ended the game with a very human 12 points and 10 shots attempted – both lows this postseason. A double-double effort by Andrew Bynum (13 points, 10 rebounds) wasn’t nearly enough to offset the Thunder’s surge. Every Lakers’ starter suffered a double-digit negative point differential. In fact, the only Los Angeles players to have a positive point differential were bench-dwellers Josh Powell (+9), D.J. Mbenga (+7) and Adam Morrison (+4), who were pressed into fourth-quarter duty with the game out of reach. Needless to say – but it’s still nice for Thunder fans to hear it, so we’ll say it – it was not a nice road trip for Lakers’ fans.

On the other hand, the Thunder has won two straight and carry all the series momentum into Los Angeles. Five players scored in double-figures for Oklahoma City in game four, including James Harden and Eric Maynor off the bench. Better yet may be the fact that Kevin Durant played a relatively scant 31 minutes in game four – he played 40-plus minutes in each of the first three games. That rest should serve him and the Thunder well as it gears up for the biggest game in franchise history.

Who to watch...

There’s no getting around it, Bryant was a huge disappointment for Los Angeles in game four. He tried to quarterback the offense and instead nullified his own offensive talents in game four. Kobe Bryant - international superstar - must return for the Lakers to counteract Oklahoma City’s tidal wave of momentum.

Normally this space is reserved for one player, often Russell Westbrook or Durant. Instead, we’ll go with watch everybody. It’s been a total team effort for the Thunder, from Serge Ibaka’s off-the-bench defensive efforts to Durant’s game-changing abilities to Thabo Sefolosha’s glue-like defense and timely buckets. If the team wins Tuesday, Durant’s name will be uttered all over TV and radio, but he’ll credit his teammates – and they’d both be right.