They did not let them to get easy shots.”
“Of course, we respect individuals guys and they are champions and they’ve won numerous rings, but it’s another game for us. You’re just trying to get much better just about every single day.”
QUOTABLE II: “Gotta give credit to the opponent. They are a actually very good group. We didn’t give ourselves a chance.”
– Lakers guard Derek Fisher. TURNING POINT: In the second and third quarters the Lakers managed to score 20 and 19 points while OKC put 27 on the board in each and every stanza. That gave the Thunder an eleven point lead going into the final twelve minutes and the Lakers could get no closer than 7 points the rest of the way.
“We’ve been on a great roll lately. We’ve got to just preserve operating tricky. It’s not above however. We’re glad we’re going into the break with some wins but I feel it really is important for us to come out of the break with some energy and some momentum.”
Kobe Bryant scored 24 factors but went seven-for-24 from the area for Los Angeles. Pau Gasol had 22 points and nine rebounds.
The Thunder pulled away in the 2nd half to win their 2nd in a row against the Lakers, who won eight of the teams’ earlier nine regular-season meetings and knocked Oklahoma City out of the 2010 playoffs in the initial round.
“They did a wonderful occupation. They took benefit of possibilities when they presented themselves, jumped out to a excellent cushion and we could by no means get the game back in stability,” Bryant mentioned.
The Lakers, as soon as able to use their dimension benefit in opposition to Oklahoma City, struggled to get individuals very same inside baskets against the remade Thunder interior of NBA blocks leader Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins.
Center Andrew Bynum began out two-for-12 in advance of lastly hitting three in a row midway through the fourth quarter. His two-handed slam got the Lakers inside 81-74 with 7 minutes remaining, only for Oklahoma City to come suitable back by scoring the up coming seven factors on a 3-point perform by Westbrook and dunks by Harden and Perkins.
Great MOVE: Thunder sixth man James Harden hounded Lakers guard Kobe Bryant into a desperation three-pointer as the shot clock winded down. Bryant airballed the shot into the hands of Thunder forward Kevin Durant, who fired an outlet pass down to Harden for a layup.
Undesirable MOVE: Midway via the 2nd quarter, Harden led a rapid break then drove into the lane but as a substitute of taking the shot himself he flipped a no-search, more than-the-back pass towards Durant, who could not catch it and the ball ended up in Laker hands.
Harden scored 16, and Ibaka extra eleven factors and 13 rebounds for Oklahoma City, which restricted L.A. to 39 shooting whilst generating 47 percent of its very own shots.
“We have to operate too tricky to get factors going up against defenses that are set and double-teams all the time,” Bryant said. “Acquiring a tiny bit far more movement, it’ll no cost Andrew up, totally free Pau up, cost-free myself up to the place I do not have to get the job done in opposition to two guys all the time.”