Kevin Durant sizzles as Oklahoma City Thunder stomp past Los Angeles Lakers 100 – 85 – NBA Recap
Oklahoma City Thunder made a statement on Thursday with regards to their position as the best in the West, with a polished win over the mighty Los Angeles Lakers. The Thunder produced a fine second half display to tame the Lakers 100 – 85 at the Chesapeake
Energy Arena, strengthening their hold at the top of the Western Conference standings.
The win, that brought the Thunder level with Miami Heat for the best record so far in the shortened NBA season, was fuelled by another riveting display by star forward Kevin Durant. The multiple times NBA scoring champion delivered once again for Oklahoma
City, piling on a game high 33 points along side 6 assists and 4 rebounds.
The forward though wasn’t getting carried away with the win and said after the game that OKC needed to keep their focus.
"It's cool that we're winning games but we can't be complacent," Durant said.
"We've been on a good roll lately. We've got to just keep working hard. It's not over yet. We're glad we're going into the break with some wins but I think it's important for us to come out of the break with some energy and some momentum."
Russell Westbrook added 19 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds for the Thunder, who also had 16 points from reserve James Harden. The performance was rounded off by a stellar showing from forward Serge Ibaka; 11 points and 13 rebounds.
Los Angeles Lakers super star Kobe Bryant admitted after the game that Thunder deserved their win.
"They did a great job. They took advantage of opportunities when they presented themselves, jumped out to a good cushion and we could never get the game back in balance," Bryant said.
Kobe was the top scorer for his team with 24 points. Centre Andrew Bynum recorded a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds while Spanish power forward Pau Gasol scored 22 and hauled down 9 boards.
The game started off pretty evenly and both sides matched each other for much of the first period. Los Angeles however were able to finish ahead, 23 – 19. OKC then hit back in the second period, using some strong rallies to overturn the deficit and by the
half time break were ahead at 46 – 43.
Oklahoma City picked up the pace after the interval. Early in the 3rd quarter they had an 11 – 3 sprint that put them in control at 59 – 50. Later, a 6 – 0 burst took their lead to 71 – 58, and it ended at 73 – 62 to the Thunder.
With OKC’s double digit lead it was always going to be difficult for the Lakers in the final 12 minutes, and it indeed proved a task too hard for them. The Lakers never threatened and the Thunder only increased their lead before the game finished 100 – 85.
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