“Disaster”: James Worthy Crowns Lakers With Fresh Tag After Thunder Upset

After the frustrating loss against the defending champions, the odds were against the LA Lakers for the OKC challenge. But, surprisingly, it turned out to be a LakeShow special. The LA side took on the top-seeding OKC Thunder at home and decimated them on both ends of the court. The team wasn’t entirely relied on LeBron James, for a change, and stormed the scoreboard collectively in the home turf match. And, this special effort received a new tag for the team from the Lakers legend, James Worthy.

Featuring on the post-game analysis with Spectrum SportsNet, the 3x NBA Champion dissected the Lakers’ game and coined a new tag. Worthy called the team “Match-up disaster”. The tag might seem like a dig at the LA team, but it isn’t. In fact, it’s aimed at the opponents, who have their match-ups scheduled against James & Co.

Speaking of the game, Worthy said, “This is why they would be a ‘match up disaster’ for teams like Oklahoma… They [Lakers] will be a tough match-up. They will be the team that no one would want to match.” 

The OKC started off the night with a quick-fire 11-point lead. While it seemed like the West leaders would slip away with an easy win, the Lakers turned up the heat. They took their first lead in the second quarter with 29 points and since then they never looked back. It was just a collective balling spectacle.

The entire team pitched in to outscore the Thunder as James Worthy pointed out, saying, “I think, they just totally out-rebounded Oklahoma, out-sized them, out-matched them… They started to continue to include guys and not just depend on LeBron and AD.” On the other hand, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a difficult night, trying to find buckets with a 5-13 FG. Keeping the ‘Match-up disaster’ tag, will the Lakers go on to climb up the West ladder?

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Will the Lakers escape the Play-in tournament?

The Lakers are back to the 9th seed after the OKC win. However, the team will need a series of wins to climb up to the 5th seed. As of now, they have been playing seesaw with the Golden State Warriors for the 9th and 10th seed.

Unfortunately, James & Co. has a tough road ahead, as 9 out of the 10 games are against the teams above a  0.500 win rate. Nevertheless, with Worthy’s new tag, the team could turn the fortune in their favor.

The legend also showed confidence in the side, as he said, “They will be okay I think but still you want to win these games and see if you can move up.” The Lakers had waltzed into the postseason last year as well and almost made another finals appearance. Will the team be able to pull off a stunner at the end of the season once again? Let us know in the comments below.

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