Even Game According To Players
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The Lakers got their noses bloodied early on and they never recovered. Unlike the initial 3 games, when the Lakers got out to early leads, the Thunder smacked them from the start and hammered away.
With the delirious Thunder crowd, including No. 3 NFL pick Gerald McCoy courtside, in a frenzy again, host Oklahoma City evened this best of 7 series at 2 games apiece with a 110-89 rout Saturday night.
This was an epic beatdown and a stunning meltdown by the Lakers.
“They took it to us,” Phil Jackson said.
No shit Sherlock.
“We just wanted to come out strong,” Kevin Durant said. “Like I’ve been saying, a lot of people didn’t expect us to be here. Then when we got here, a lot of people were saying we’d get swept. But we just have to keep working hard.”
The Thunder worked up a 55-42 halftime lead before burying the Laker in the third quarter. The lopsided manner in which they did so was convincing enough that Jackson parked Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Ron Artest on the bench in the fourth quarter.
Bryant, who desperately tried to get his teammates going in the first half, managed just 12 points and 4 assists in one of his worst playoff games in recent times. Gasol and Andrew Bynum led the Lakers with a measly 13 points each. In addition to the Thunder’s smothering defense, the Lakers also were hurt by another disappearing act by Lamar Odom. He finished with 12 points, but much of that came when the contest was already settled.
Durant and Russell Westbrook, who also sat out the final quarter because of the blowout, led the Thunder with 22 and 18 points respectively. Westbrook also had 8 rebounds and 6 assists.
The Thunder also got a lift from Jeff Green, who had played poorly for much of the series, and rookie James Harden. Both chipped in 15 points.
“It was a great feeling, but we have a lot of work to do,” Westbrook said. “We have to find a way to win in L.A.”
Game 5 is at 7:30 (PT) p.m. Tuesday in L.A.
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