Say what you will about Ron Artest's ever-changing hairstyle, about his inability to consistently convert on the open jump shot, about his tendency to create a superficial four-on-five disadvantage for the Los Angeles Lakers' offense.
I'll say this: The Lakers' 95-92 escape from the Oklahoma City Thunder in game two of the Western Conference quarterfinals on Tuesday night officially sealed, stamped and sent away the "Ron Artest and the Lakers are like oil and water" envelope.
After holding Kevin Durant to a 7-for-24 afternoon in game one, Ron-Ron wrestled and rallied and when it was all said and done, racked up another reason why LA acquired him last summer.
A look at the box score indicates Durant's team-high 32 points proved to be the kryptonite to Artest's superman defense, yet the youngest scoring champion in NBA history was hampered and harassed by Artest during a highly-contested second half in which Durant struggled, shooting just 4-for-12 after finishing the first 24 minutes with eight baskets in 14 attempts.
To add salt to KD's wound, he tied a season-high by turning the ball over eight times over the course of the contest.< ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Josh Hoffman
Lakers’ Lessons: What We Learned From Game Two
April 21st, 2010 by Josh Hoffman Leave a reply »
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