After facing a must-win game 24 hours earlier, the Lakers found themselves with a chance to turn an 0-2 deficit into a tied-up series.

On Monday night, they face the ultimate must-win game.

For most of the night, the older Lakers answered the call. But, as we witnessed in Game 2, the visiting Thunder put on a late-run to steal a game that L.A. controlled for much of the evening.

Let’s look at how Oklahoma City stunned the Lakers and seized a 3-1 lead in this series:

Lack of Laker Composure: L.A. fell victim to a common theme throughout his year’s postseason – a lack of composure from the team with the lead. The second half saw the Lakers give center Andrew Bynum only 4 field goal attempts (compared to 11 in the opening half). Kobe Bryant took control of the offense – by shooting rather than facilitating. This made it easy for the Thunder to turn the game around by limiting its focus to one man: Mr. Bryant.

Durant and Westbrook put 68 points on the board in Game 4.

Thunder Defense: The Thunder dominated the final quarter, 32-20, erasing a consistent three-quarter effort from Los Angeles. The Thunder ended on a 13-4 streak to close out the Lakers tonight. OKC stunted the effectiveness of Andrew Bynum late in the game (4 points in second half; 0 points in the final 9:30). And Scott Brooks brilliantly mixed up his team’s coverage of Kobe Bryant – using a combination of James Harden, Thabo Sefolosha, and Kevin Durant on the superstar. As the fourth quarter wound down, Durant was on Bryant. This move got Bryant out of his comfort zone, and it was clear that Durant’s length bothered him immensely. Bryant began to launch…and miss…deep jumpers (instead of the diet of mid-range shots that he lived by most of the contest).

Dynamic Duo With the Game on the Line: Oklahoma City’s All-Stars kept the visitors in the game. Russell Westbrook, 37 points. Kevin Durant, 31 points. This duo was too aggressive, too fast, and too dynamic for the Lakers to control. Westbrook took complete advantage of his matchup with Steve Blake, roasting the reserve guard with his explosive quickness. Durant proved to be the ultimate closer, sinking the Lakers with a clutch three-point shot with 13 seconds remaining.

With both Los Angeles teams losing in Staples in one day, what could have been a memorable day in NBA history turned into a forgettable one for L.A. hoops fans.

And the Lakers will have to come up with an unbelievable effort to have a chance to make it up to their fans.

What’s the theme of the 2012 NBA Playoffs?

Don’t be the first team to jump out to a sizable lead, because you’ll probably end up losing.

Or, as Spurs guard Tony Parker said:

“I was like ‘No panic. We’ll come back.’”

We’ve seen it time and time again. It’s usually the home team, feeding off of the energy from the crowd, that comes out of the locker room clicking on all cylinders. They’re hitting all of their shots, moving the ball, playing intense defense, and every loose ball winds up in their hands.

But at some point in the contest, the team remembers that they really aren’t that good. And when they do, they stop doing the things that put them into such a dominant position to begin with.

Well, guess what? We saw it one more time this afternoon in the Staples Center.

In the first of an unprecedented doubleheader of NBA postseason action in Los Angeles, the Clippers allowed a 24-point second quarter advantage evaporate on its way to falling into a 0-3 deficit in its best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series with the San Antonio Spurs.

From the outside, it was what we all would have expected from the opening tip. The Clippers were up by 22 at the end of the first period, and extended that by a bucket in the next quarter. The key to their early surge: the All-Star combination of Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. Paul distributed the rock effectively from the start, collecting seven assists in the first 15 minutes of the game. And the prime beneficiary of his dimes, Griffin, played what was perhaps his best half of playoff basketball thus far. Griffin had 23 points in the first 24 minutes, and got on the glass (offensively and defensively). Los Angeles also got notable contributions from reserve scorers Nick Young and Mo Williams.

By contrast, the Spurs looked like a team that got socked in the face. They clearly needed to recover, and it seemed that they did not know how to get back into their game.

That is, until the home team opened the door.

An important characteristic of any team with championship aspirations is having the discipline to play effectively with a big lead. It’s certainly not an easy thing to do. It requires just the right mix of composure and aggression. However, most importantly the team needs leaders that will force their teammates to execute, ensuring that they pay special attention to what has been successful for them.

Paul and Griffin are spectacular talents. And, at times, their stars shine brighter than any of the San Antonio Spurs.

But, at this point in their careers, their leadership leaves much to be desired.

Beginning late in the second period, Los Angeles stopped doing the things that worked so well for them. They stopped moving without the ball. They stopped rebounding with reckless abandon. They stopped working from the inside out. They stopped playing team defense. They stopped playing with discipline.

And they stopped winning.

Playoff veterans Tony Parker and Tim Duncan were relaxed in the face of adversity.

San Antonio went on a 15-5 run to close out the first half, slicing the Clipper lead to 10. And when that happened, we all knew that L.A. was in for a dogfight.

Or at least that’s what we thought.

Turns out that the visitors turned the tables so much that they were able to coast their way to a morally-deflating victory over the Clippers. And this was not surprising because the Spurs have players who will hold each other accountable for playing the right way. Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili controlled the flow of the game throughout the second half, shutting down a hot-shooting Clipper team and totally stalling the home team’s momentum in the process. San Antonio outscored Los Angeles 26-8 in the third quarter, and that was after dominating the second quarter, 32-20.

The ironic part of this is that the Clippers were on the other end of a similar debacle in their first round matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies. In their playoff opener, L.A. withstood a 27-point edge by Memphis and put up a historic fourth-quarter comeback to take the game. The same lack of execution and discipline that plagued the Grizzlies hurt the Clippers today.

Now, the Clippers find themselves up against insurmountable odds (down 3-0), battling a team who most of us can’t recall when they last suffered defeat.

Can the Clippers prevent the Spurs from celebrating a berth in the conference finals on the floor of the Staples Center?

If they have any hope, it will start and end with discipline.