This is why the Lakers went after Ron Artest this summer.
They pictured him shutting down people like Paul Pierce or Carmelo Anthony, but they will take Kevin Durant. Artest, along with his Lakers teammates, took the NBA's leading scorer out of his comfort zone, and that is why the Lakers won 87-79, taking a 1-0 lead in this first-round playoff series.
Durant was just 4 of 18 shooting on the night when Artest was covering him (7-24 overall). Artest was in his head. Durant usually makes some of those well-covered shots, but he was putting up airballs in Staples. He was as rattled as the calm Durant ever gets.
The Lakers defense won them this game; their offense was pretty average (although Oklahoma City is a good defensive team). There were a few things the Lakers did.
One was slowing it down and keeping it a half-court game. Against a lot of teams, the Lakers want to run, but in an up-tempo game, the young and athletic Thunder would steamroll the Lakers, and Durant would get easy points filling a lane on the break. His confidence would grow. The Lakers shut that down
Then there is what everybody is talking about: Ron Artest.
Artest is a pit bull of a defender. He is relentless, he never quits, never gives up. In addition, he is physical and strong, and knows how to use it. The Oklahoma City team -- not just Durant but also the team -- were not prepared for this.
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Artest tried to deny Durant the ball in any spot on the floor he likes. That's always his modus operandi. And he is too strong for Durant to hold his position on his own. Artest tries to do the same things to players like LeBron James or Anthony, but has less success because they are strong enough to hold him. The young Durant is still adding that strength.
To help Durant out, the Thunder ran some simple plays right out of every NBA playbook -- some cross screens, some pindowns -- to free Durant up. Didn't work. Artest just blew those up and was in Durant's grill the whole time. For one thing, Artest has been seeing those since he entered the league. Artest is a smart player, a savvy one. If he knows it's coming, you're not going to succeed with it very often.
The other problem is harder for Oklahoma City to fix -- there isn't a player strong enough on the Thunder to set a pick Artest can't run through, especially on the screen-and-roll. Much like Durant himself, this is a young and lanky team. That serves them well in transition; not as well in a game of physical half-court sets.
The Lakers bigs also defended the picks well; they contained Durant enough until Artest arrived, which was not long. The Lakers were well prepared for this part of the Thunder playbook.
Thunder coach Scott Brooks and his staff have to figure out ways to get Durant free. That may include putting Durant on the weak side, then using quick ball rotation to get him the ball in isolation. They can't keep running basic sets and keep Durant on the strong side.
But whatever they do may not be enough. Ron Artest is a pit bull.
