The Los Angeles Lakers earned another difficult victory by defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder in overtime. It was the team’s fifth win in a row, but three of those games were nail-biters, two of which went to overtime.
According to the Lakers great Derek Fisher, it is getting more difficult for the defending NBA champions to keep that concentration as the early season excitement wears off.
“It’s a part of a long NBA season. And the team as good as the Lakers are, the excitement of early season has worn off. The short turnover after 2020 NBA championship now into this season,” Fisher said on Spectrum SportsNet. “And you can tell it’s getting a little harder to show up every night with enthusiasm, passion. So they’re just gonna have to push through some of these games just to get the wins. And LeBron is going to have to log a lot of minutes for them to do so.”
James Worthy, who won three championships with the Lakers in the late ’80s, credited Los Angeles for being able to win when it’s difficult. “I give the Lakers a lot of credit,” he said. “You got to win games like this. Without that sixth man, I think without the crowd you miss that, I’m not saying it’s the key… as Fish just stated, it’s short offseason, they’re a little fatigued it’s a weird season anyway. Takes a lot mentally. I give them credit for winning these last two games.”
