After allowing opponents to score an average of 136 points against them in three games, the Lakers emerged victorious against the Oklahoma City Thunder Sunday afternoon.
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Jodie Meeks led the way for the Lakers by scoring a career-high 42 points while making 11 of 18 of his field goal attempts. Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni had some high praise for Meeks in his post-game interview. According to the Lakers’ official Twitter, D’Antoni referred to Meeks as the most consistent performer for the Lakers all year.
D'Antoni: "@Jmeeks20 has been our most consistent performer all year. He's got better in a lot of phases of the game. Just comes to work."
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) March 9, 2014
In a year that has seen many of the Lakers miss games due to injury, Meeks has been a constant presence for the Lakers. He has only missed five games due to ankle injury in February. When Meeks is on the court, he provides the Lakers with much needed three-point shooting and scoring. Meeks has averaged 15.3 points on 40 percent shooting behind the arc this season, and increased his scoring load prior to Sundays matchup. In the 10 games before his career game against the Thunder, he was putting up 19.2 points a game.
During the game on Sunday afternoon, Meeks constantly found himself open, and the Lakers used their good ball movement to get the ball into Meeks’ hands. Because of his sharpshooting, the Thunder had to close out on Meeks, and Meeks would make them pay every now and then by blowing past defenders and getting to the rim a couple times.
Laker teammate, Kent Bazemore, commented post-game that Meeks has grown comfortable in D’Antoni’s system, and performances like today prove that. With his contract up at the end of the season, Meeks has expressed his desire to return with the Lakers. Should Meeks continue to play the way he has been, he should be considered to be a viable option for the Lakers moving forward.
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VIDEO: Jodie Meeks After His 42-Point Performance