It’s official. Metta World Chaos won’t be barred from any potential Thunder-Laker playoff game. The Lakers took care of that Tuesday night, losing 102-99 to Denver in Game 5 of their Western Conference playoff series. With only one game left to serve in his suspension for elbowing the Thunder’s James Harden in the final week of the NBA regular season, Chaos will either return for Game 7 of the Nuggets-Lakers, Game 1 of Thunder-Lakers or the regular season opener next November.
Laker coach Mike Brown laughed at the notion his team lost to the Nuggets on Tuesday in order to get Chaos back for the Thunder series. The Lakers could use some rest for Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum as much as they could use Chaos.
But the verdict Tuesday night does mean Chaos will be available to chase Kevin Durant in Game 1, provided the Lakers don’t squander a three games-to-two advantage over Denver. How important is that? Well, it’s big. Chaos is a quality defender, one of the best-suited for Durant. Second-year pro Devin Ebanks has been starting in Chaos’ stead, and though he did a decent job on Durant in the second half after Chaos was tossed from the game 21/2 weeks ago, Chaos is the much better option.
The Lakers’ aura seems to present a tough challenge for the Thunder. But I don’t know. Watching the Nugget series, Denver looks sluggish and out of sorts. Yet it’s 3-2, going back to Denver. I don’t like the looks of this Laker team. If Kendrick Perkins can’t play for the Thunder, that’s a huge disadvantage, since Perk is uniquely qualified to guard the manchild Bynum. But I don’t see the Lakers beating the Thunder, even if Gran Torino is sidelined. Limited bench, old legs, too much reliance on Kobe.
The Lakers absolutely need Chaos to make it competitive. And the Thunder needs Perk to dominate. But even Chaos’  availability for the entire series and Perk’s absence wouldn’t be enough to take down the Thunder.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
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