Rough stuff
Radio guy Matt Pinto seemed persuaded that the officiating crew at the Staples Center tonight had a strange form of tunnel vision: they could see all manner of fouls being committed by the Thunder, scarcely any by the Lakers. Scott Brooks, judging by his facial expressions, shared this belief. Whatever the truth of the matter, Nick Collison fouled out halfway through the fourth quarter, as did Kevin Durant with a minute and a half left. (Then again, Kobe Bryant played much of the last quarter with five fouls.)
The Thunder actually had a 61-54 lead at halftime, though the Lakers immediately ran off six points to start the third quarter, and outscored OKC by thirteen in those twelve minutes; the Thunder never quite made up the difference, closing to within one and ultimately falling by three, 111-108.
Scott Brooks played only eight men, five of which landed in double figures; Russell Westbrook was three boards short of a triple-double, reeling in 21 points and serving up 13 dimes. Sixteen from each of the swingmen: Thabo Sefolosha and James Harden. (Harden, in fact, ran the point in Westbrook’s absence.) And Serge Ibaka pulled down 14 boards to go with 8 points. KD departed with 30.
All five Los Angeles starters wound up in double figures, led (of course) by Kobe, who had 40. The Lakers took 39 free throws, making 32; the Thunder were 20-24 from the stripe. The Thunder actually outshot the Lakers from the floor, 46.6 to 44.4 percent, and made six of 13 treys (L. A. had 7 of 18.)
So it wasn’t an embarrassment, but it was still a loss, and there are Suns waiting in Phoenix.
