Oklahoma City Thunder come from behind to stun Los Angeles Lakers in Game 2 – NBA Playoffs
The Oklahoma City Thunder came from behind to hand the Los Angeles Lakers their second straight loss of the Western Conference Semi Final series, taking a 2-0 lead going into game 3.
The Thunder were down 75-68 with under 2 minutes left in the game but finished the game on a 9-0 run and win 77-75. The Lakers missed 3 shots in that run, two of them by Kobe Bryant, and had two turnovers in the final two minutes
to lose the game, one of which came from Kobe. Kevin Durant had 22 points for the night and hit the crucial shot that gave Thunder the lead with just 18.6 seconds left on the clock. Bryant and Andrew Bynum both finished with 20 points for the Lakers.
"They won't quit. That's not in their DNA. They're not wired that way and if they were, they wouldn't be here. We're not going to win every game but we're going to fight to the last second of the game and we did that tonight. If
we would have gotten down on ourselves with 2 minutes to go, we would have lost by 12 and we would go to L.A. 1-1” said an elated Thunder coach Scott Brooks after the game.
Thunder played well in the first half and led the Lakers 48-45 at the break. However, they lost their momentum in the 2nd half, missing 20 of the first 27 attempts to open it. The Lakers took advantage, edging away to
take a lead, although the Thunder were right behind them.
The Lakers came into game 2 with a good strategy to control Oklahoma’s game style and scoring, after they were blown away by the Thunder offense in a 119-90 victory in game 1. Andrew Bynum’s turnaround shot with 2:08 left in the
game gave the Lakers a 75-68 lead. The Thunder called time out and came out aggressive.
James Harden first scored a layup and it was followed by a turnover by Kobe. Durant collected the ball and went all the way for a dunk. Russell Westbrook then intercepted a Steve Blake pass meant for Bryant which went out of bounds
with Bryant having the last touch. Harden again scored a layup to bring OKC within 1 of the Lakers. Durant then hit a difficult floating jump shot from the sideline to give OKC a 76-75 lead which they held on to.
L.A broke down in the final 2 minutes of the game, committing two turnovers and then missing 3 field goal attempts.
"What they did the last few minutes there, they just made gambles. They just jumped in the passing lanes. It's something that we're not accustomed to seeing. It's just flat-out risks defensively” said Bryant
Russell Westbrook was not in the best of forms, scoring 15 points off a 5 of 17 shooting night. James Harden had 13 points coming off the bench. Kendrick Perkins played the game after being a game time decision with a re-aggravated
hip injury. However, he only managed 2 points and 5 rebounds while Serge Ibaka had 8 points and 7 blocks in a big defensive night.
Bryant had 20 points and 4 assists for the Lakers while Bynum had 20 points and 9 rebounds. Pau Gasol added 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Lakers shot 38.5% from the field and were only 2 of 15 from the distance. The Thunder, on the other hand, were 42% from the field and 6 of 17 from beyond the arc. OKC committed 13 turnovers after managing only 4 in game 1 against
the Lakers, who had a 41-36 advantage in rebounds but the Thunder had 8 blocks compared to 2 for LA.
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