Los Angeles coach Mike Brown may not be quite the Zen master that Phil Jackson was, but he seems to have some of the same instincts: after apparently persuading the Thunder brain trust that the Lakers were a fairly mediocre team that got this far by dint of favorable officiating, those same Lakers came out tonight playing like a team that belonged in the playoffs. They caught the Thunder napping, holding them at bay for almost the entire game. Then OKC remembered how to fight back, putting Kevin Durant (!) on Kobe Bryant, and forging a 96-all tie just inside the two-minute mark. With 13.7 left, Durant fired a trey from the top of the arc to put the Thunder up 101-98; Bryant went for a retaliatory three, which clanked, and James Harden, fouled on the rebound (by Metta World Schnook, no less), tacked on two more. Kobe did get a shot off at the horn, but it didn’t matter: Oklahoma City 103, Los Angeles 100, and now it’s 3-1.

We haven’t had a Telltale Statistic in a while, so here’s one: Kobe, with a game-high 38 points, went 2-10 in the fourth quarter and finished -9. The Lakers once again had all five starters in double figures, and they doubled up the Thunder on offensive rebounds (18-9). But they were essentially helpless in the face of one of those patented Thunder late-game rallies. And the only double-double for the night belonged to Durant, who had 31 points and 13 rebounds.

Still, Durant almost always gets numbers in that general neighborhood. What matters over any particular 48-minute stretch is how Russell Westbrook is doing. And Westbrook was doing fine, thank you very much, rolling up 37 points and turning the ball over exactly once. Except for Harden, who was bottled up much of the night but still bagged 12 points, the Thunder shot pretty well: 49 percent overall, and this time they outdid the Lakers at the foul line, nailing 21 of 25. (L. A. went 21-29.)

As noted last night, there will be a Game 5, Monday at Loud City. The objective for the Thunder, of course, will be to make sure there is no Game 6.

If it looked like most of this game was played from the charity stripe, well, there were a lot of fouls — “How many times is he going to get bailed out tonight?” asked radio guy Matt Pinto about Kobe Bryant — and therefore a lot of free throws. (By “a lot,” I mean 70.) And the lead went back and forth, back and forth, all through the fourth quarter, but “favorable officiating,” in Pinto’s words, made the difference, as the Lakers won it, 99-96.

Well, even if the players weren’t wearing their Braille numbers, L. A. did go 41-42 from the foul line. (OKC was 26-28.) And if Kobe missed 16 of 25 from the floor, he hit 18 in a row from the stripe for a game-high 36. In fact, all the Lakers starters ended up in double figures, though the bench posted only 14 points, 12 of them by Steve Blake. (Aside: Whoever made the death threats against Blake and his family on Twitter — please die in a fire.) Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol reeled in eleven boards each, contributing to a 44-37 rebounding advantage for L. A.

The Thunder shot marginally better — 40 percent versus 39 — though nobody was doing particularly well from beyond the arc. Russell Westbrook and James Harden each contributed 21 points; Kevin Durant came up with 31. Their ball control was pretty good: only 11 turnovers on the night. (The Lakers coughed it up 15 times.) And there was a bit of weirdness at the end, when Durant clanged a trey that would have tied the game, and Serge Ibaka rose for a stickback that wouldn’t have. Scott Brooks must have facepalmed at that.

The only thing we know for sure now is that there will be a Game 5 at the Peake. First, though, comes Game 4, tomorrow night in L. A., presumably with a different officiating crew, possibly with peripheral vision.

So the Lakers regrouped, and rethought: if they’re not going to beat the Thunder by playing at a quick pace, maybe they can do it by slowing it down to a torturous crawl. (How slow? Los Angeles won the third quarter, 18-12.) With two minutes left, the Lakers were up seven, 75-68. The Thunder promptly went on an 8-0 run to go up 76-75; Thabo Sefolosha retrieved a Steve Blake miss, and the Lakers found time to foul twice in the last six seconds. With 0.3 left, Kevin Durant ended up at the stripe; he hit the first, missed the second, and the Lakers got one more (very brief) chance before James Harden got his hand on the ball at the horn. OKC 77, Lakers 75, and now it’s 2-0.

It was, by and large, an astonishing display of non-shooting by the Lakers. Andrew Bynum got 20 points, but he went 8-19 from the floor; Kobe Bryant got 20, but he went 9-25. And the entire L. A. bench came up with a whole 11 points. The Lakers finished at 38.5 percent, and hit only two of 15 treys. Pau Gasol did eke out a double-double, though: 14 points, 11 boards. (L. A. was +5 in rebounding.)

The Thunder weren’t exactly hitting on all cylinders either: 42 percent, six of 17 for three. And the major point-getters got comparatively minor points: Durant 22, Russell Westbrook 15 (he went 5-17), Harden 13. (To repeat: the entire L. A. bench came up with 11.) Still, the Lakers basically had this one won — and they got blindsided in those last two minutes. Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of reprobates.

The fun resumes Friday at Staples Center, and continues Saturday. Yes, it’s a back-to-back. Think of it as practice before we have to face the Spurs.

There were basically two questions going into this game. The first: “Is Perk okay?” (Answer: he played seventeen minutes, took a hit, took a detour to the locker room as a precautionary measure, and returned to the bench, though he didn’t play further.) The second: “How will Metta World Douche be greeted?” (Answer: Seven or eight of the 18,203 in attendance did not boo him.) Otherwise, there was no question: the Thunder grabbed the lead late in the first quarter and didn’t come close to giving it up the rest of the night, up 15 at the half, up 30 (!) after three, and the starters watched the reserves finish off the Lakers, 119-90, in spectacular fashion. And I do mean “spectacular”: in the waning seconds, Derek Fisher sank a trey, and then Royal Ivey stole the inbound and dribbled it out. Had they given Mike Brown the finger, the message couldn’t have been clearer.

And here’s a brace of telltale statistics: at 39:26, the beginning of garbage time, OKC had committed three turnovers — and the Lakers had zero fast-break points. Add to that this lovely bit of frustration: Devin Ebanks, who had subbed admirably for Metta World Elbow during the dark days of suspension, lasted a whole 4:15 before being thumbed from the premises.

Los Angeles still has no one who can handle Russell Westbrook, who rolled up 27 points on 10-15 shooting, not to mention seven rebounds and nine assists. Kevin Durant tacked on 25 more; James Harden led the bench with 17. And oh, the final turnover count was four.

The Lakers, meanwhile, coughed up the rock 15 times, and while they did enjoy a 43-41 advantage on the boards, they shot less than 44 percent, and Pau Gasol, minus 29 for the night, evidently phoned it in. Andrew Bynum did post a double-double, with 20 points and 14 rebounds, which still left him at minus 24. Kobe Bryant had an uneventful 20, and Metta World Smurf, hot in the first quarter, ended up with 12.

The hostilities resume Wednesday at the funky C Arena. I have no idea how Perk is, and there’s really no reason for anyone to tell me.

When you’re down 3-0, you throw in everything up to and including the kitchen sink. Rick Carlisle, a reliable pitcher of plumbing fixtures, began this one by starting both Jason Terry and Jason Kidd. It didn’t hurt that Kendrick Perkins exited, eight minutes in, with a hip strain. Three quarters down, and the Mavs were up thirteen.

What didn’t Carlisle allow for? James Harden having only the best playoff game he ever had, racking up 29 points. He powered the Thunder to a 28-10 run in the first nine minutes of the fourth. Dallas quit hitting from the field with 5:47 left; even the departure of Serge Ibaka with six fouls did not empower the Mavs, and Harden iced the deal with 10 seconds left, putting Oklahoma City up by five. Kevin Durant added one more free throw, and the Thunder get to celebrate dethroning Last Year’s Champs, 103-97.

As for Dirk, well, he was Dirk, logging a game-high 34 points. But in that fourth quarter, he was reduced to begging at the charity stripe: he had one field goal in those twelve minutes. Jason & Jason wangled 27 between them, but starting them both weakened the Dallas bench a bit — any time your bench is led by Ian Mahinmi, “weak” comes immediately to mind. The Maverick reserves scored 23 points, or six less than James Harden.

With the Beard taking care of offense, Durant turned his attention to defense, ending up with a double-double: 24 points, 11 rebounds. And Derek Fisher put together yet another line that belies that Old Man crap: five of six shooting for 12 points and a plus-21 for the night. Radio guy Matt Pinto pointed out that Oklahoma City has beaten Dallas in six straight games — last two of the season, plus four in the playoffs. As for Mavs owner Mark Cuban, I suspect he’s standing in front of an ATM right about now.

Meanwhile, the Nuggets and the Lakers fight it out, and one of them will be the next-round opponent of the Thunder. When we’ll know for sure, no one knows for sure.

Jeweler and social-network maven (90,000 tweets!) Dan Gordon was asking how come this game started at 8:30, there being no West Coast teams involved; I explained that it was all a matter of television, and the desire to fit most of a doubleheader into prime time. The following interchange ensued:

Dan: oh, but what about us getting to bed at an acceptable hour? #oldmanquestions

Yours truly: The NBA doesn’t care about keeping old men up late. #notsayinganythingaboutthemavs

Maybe I could have said something about the Mavericks, who alternated between arthritic and argumentative for just over 43 minutes, after which Rick Carlisle hoisted the home-white flag. At the time, it was 95-69 OKC, and, said radio guy Matt Pinto, the building was just about empty. The Dallas benchwarmers went on a 10-0 run to finish the thing, but 95-79 still counts as a rout, especially since Oklahoma City did a superior job of shutting down the Maverick offense: Dallas shot 34 percent and turned the ball over 15 times. Oh, and “argumentative”: four techs, including one against Carlisle; Brian Cardinal got one mere seconds after leaving the scorer’s table.

As is often the case, there’s a telltale statistic: the Thunder turned the ball over only eight times, and two of those were in the five-minute temps des ordures. Kevin Durant, who had been merely a factor in the first two games, became the major playmaker in the third, with 31 points, six assists, two steals and three rebounds. This took some of the pressure off Russell Westbrook, who turned in a 20-point line with four assists versus only three turnovers. Serge Ibaka blocked four shots, scored 10, rebounded 11, for the night’s only double-double. And both Derek Fisher and James Harden kicked in ten from the bench.

Okay, maybe one more of those statistics: in the second and third quarters, the Mavs scored a total of 31 points. I’m guessing the rest of the time, they were scrambling for Aspercreme. And Dirk — oh, my heaven, Dirk — went 6-15 from the floor and worse, missed three free throws. That’s a season’s worth of clang for Nowitzki. Nor did anyone else generate much offense: after Dirk’s 17, you have the Jason and Jason combine, with 23 between them, and — well, you’ve seen enough collapses to know which way this is going.

So it’s for all the marbles Saturday night at Probably Broke Airline Fieldhouse, or whatever that damn place is called. Were I going, I’d be bringing brooms, because … well, just because. And hey, at least it’s not at 8:30.

What kind of night was this? Scott Brooks actually put Russell Westbrook on Dirk for a few moments in the fourth quarter. (And Westbrook drew a charge, to Nowitzki’s visible annoyance.) It didn’t figure to be a blowout, though the Thunder did briefly lead by 16 in the second. Inside the last minute, Dallas was up 97-96; Kevin Durant drew a foul from Jason Terry and sank two free throws, Dirk’s dagger didn’t, and James Harden chipped in two more freebies, making it 100-97 at the 25-second mark. Jason Terry took a whole five seconds to lay it up; Harden got two more free throws to make it 102-99, and while Terry had a couple of good looks on that last possession, nothing would fall, and it’s 2-0 Thunder.

Dirk, as befits Dirk, had a game-high 31; the rest of the Mavs shot a blah 38 percent, and only five of 23 treys fell. (The Thunder dropped 5 of 16 from the next block.) Shawn Marion added 15 points; the Jasons had 23 between them. Dallas was outrebounded slightly, 37-35. The OKC secret weapon, though, was obviously the foul shot: the Thunder hit 37 of 39.

Before you ask: Durant missed those two. Still, despite another meh night from the floor (5-17), he cashed in 26 points, and Westbrook (10-21) had 29 more. There was a little more bench action tonight: Harden finished with 15, but Derek Fisher rose for 11, and Nick Collison might have had more than four had he not fouled out early in the fourth quarter.

So it’s off to Dallas on Thursday and Saturday. Can the Thunder shut down the Mavs? There’s only one way to find out.

And so it came to pass in Such A Leak Arena on a dark and stormy night that the defending champions came to defend their championship. No matter what the Thunder did, the Mavericks had a response for it. Still, OKC persevered, going on a 7-0 run (in 64 seconds!) to tie it at 94-all with 1:27 left. Then Dallas displayed a rare phenomenon known as “fifth-chance points,” in which OKC made four attempts to retrieve the ball, but it ended with Ian Mahinmi sinking two free throws. Kevin Durant, who’d been having a rough (for Kevin Durant) night shooting, then set up Serge Ibaka for a dunk and an and-one. With 24 seconds left, it was 97-96 OKC. James Harden fouled Dirk Nowitzki, who of course didn’t find it convenient to miss either of his free throws. And a second and a half before the buzzer, Durant front-rimmed a jumper, which bounded off the backboard — and in. Oklahoma City 99, Dallas 98, and the playoffs begin on a positive note.

Still, it’s not like KD was playing slacker. He put in nearly 44 minutes on a night when no one else had 40. And he reeled in six boards, served up four dimes, and blocked four shots. It’s enough to make you forget 10-27 from the floor (1-6 for three) and 25 points. Besides, Russell Westbrook found his A game, good for 28 points (13-23), and those Ibaka freebies gave him 22 for the night. The bench didn’t score much. In fact, the bench didn’t score at all, except for Harden, who had a highly-efficient 19 on 4-7 and nine free throws. No one seemed to mind.

If Jason Terry is a feared sixth man, and he is, then Vince Carter should get props as a seventh: he tossed in 13 points to go with Terry’s 20. Dirk, being Dirk, had 25, almost half in the fourth quarter. Shawn Marion tacked on 17 more. The Mavs had a 42-36 advantage off the boards, but they turned the ball over even more than the Thunder — 15-14 — and while they nailed ten of 22 treys for 45 percent, they were no better than that on short-range shots. Still, I can’t help thinking that Dallas could have pulled this one off, were it not for the fact that Rick Carlisle’s momentum-control scheme had left them with no timeouts after Durant’s winning jumper.

So not a lot to gripe about, unless you’re a Thunder fan who also happens to be a cardiac patient. And if Game 2 (Monday night) is like this, more of them might be.

So much for resting the starters tonight. Both the Nuggets and the Thunder went full-tilt at one another pretty much the entire 48 minutes, and neither side ever got much of a lead. And at the end of it all — this was the last regular-season game for Oklahoma City — Denver was on top, 106-101.

Just about every Denver player proved to be an offensive threat: seven of the nine Nuggets who saw action scored in double figures, with Ty Lawson team-high at 25. The biggest problem for OKC, though, seemed to be rookie power forward Kenneth Faried, who put together a double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds, six offensive) and generally made life miserable for the Thunder. Denver outrebounded OKC, 42-37, and managed to hold on to the rock better, turning it over 10 times, while the Thunder fumbled it away on 18 occasions.

On the other hand, the Thunder technically shot better by five percentage points, though here’s your telltale statistic: OKC went 39-79, Denver 40-90. Eleven more shots. The Nuggets also put up 30 free throws, though only 16 dropped. (OKC was 13-15 from the stripe.) And as usual, Batman and Robin had the fancy lines: Russell Westbrook scored 30, Kevin Durant 32. For those paying attention to this sort of thing, this gives KD 1850 points in 66 games, an average of 28.030. For Kobe Bryant to grab the scoring title, he’ll need at least 38 points against the Kings tomorrow. (Then again, last Lakers-Kings game, on March 2, Kobe got, um, 38 points.) And James Harden was cleared to play, but Scott Brooks decided otherwise.

So that’s the season: 47-19, and 2-1 against the Nuggets, who currently occupy the 6th seed, a hair ahead of Dallas. (Both have one game left.) It will probably be Thunder-Mavs in the first round. Fasten your seat belts.

Yes, kids, it’s the Sacramento Kings again, and this is definitely the last time we’ll have to see them this season. Promise. And if we thought we would be spared the presence of DeMarcus Cousins, who rolled up his thirteenth technical Sunday — well, that tech was rescinded, and DeMarcus did his darnedest to make DeDifference tonight, rolling up a team-high 32 points. Scott Brooks, evidently not impressed, brought out none of the Thunder starters for the fourth quarter, and the James Harden-less bench came up big, putting together a 36-24 final frame to get the better of the Kings, 118-110.

Sacramento came out shooting hot, running up 40 points in the first quarter; they cooled a bit once the Thunder defense started to gel, but still finished with a creditable 52 percent from the floor. All five starters made double figures, though the five reserves, putting in limited time (Tyler Honeycutt, says the box score, played two seconds, and you can’t get much more limited than that), contributed only seven points among them.

Meanwhile, Derek Fisher and Daequan Cook took command of the OKC bench; DC-14 got a season-high 19 points, and Fish dropped in 11, including three consecutive free throws late after being fouled on a long ball. Kevin Durant, who vanished after the third quarter, left with 32 points, enough to pad his tiny lead over Kobe Bryant for scoring champion by some infinitesimal decimal. With Russell Westbrook in something of a slump (4-13, 13 points), Thabo Sefolosha stepped up his offensive game, hitting four of six, including two treys, for 11 points. The Thunder shot 46 percent, and outrebounded Sacramento, 43-34.

Which leaves Game 66, tomorrow against the sixth-place (for the moment) Nuggets. Denver hasn’t beaten OKC all year, and there’s no good reason they should start now.

“I just want this game to end before someone dies,” tweeted @TheLostOgle with about four minutes left, and shortly thereafter, Kobe Bryant and Serge Ibaka spilled into the first row trying to snag a loose ball. That’s the kind of day it was, starting with 1:37 left in the first half, when Metta World Peace, belying his placid surname, threw an elbow at James Harden’s head. Harden went to the locker room to be checked for concussion; Peace-y went to the locker room with an ejection and a Flagrant Two. The Thunder, irked, ran up the score over the next fifteen minutes, eventually taking an 18-point lead; but the Lakers gradually whittled it away and finally took control in the waning moments on back-to-back Kobe treys. Russell Westbrook dropped a couple of free throws to tie it at 91, and overtime ensued. Four minutes and forty-five seconds later, it was still tied, 97-all, and overtime continued; the Thunder couldn’t buy a bucket in the waning moments, and the Lakers finally won one against OKC, 114-106.

“Steve Blake,” said radio guy Matt Pinto, “has been an influential influence.” Well, yeah; he contributed three treys, all coming in the fourth quarter or in overtime, and became something of the go-to guy when Thabo Sefolosha had Bryant in a box. With Andrew Bynum phoning it in, bigness was contributed by Pau Gasol (20 points, 14 rebounds) and Jordan Hill (14 and 15). L.A. was utterly dominant on the boards (67-54, 25-14 offensive). But nobody is likely to be impressed with the offense of either club: the Lakers put up 106 shots and missed 65, the Thunder sent up 101 and missed 64. (OKC was slightly better than L.A. beyond the arc, if 8 of 24 is actually better, other than in sheer percentage points, than 5 of 16.)

Batman and Robin again seemed to be working at cross purposes: yeah, they got 49 points between them — Kevin Durant 35, Westbrook 14 — but they went a combined 14-56 from the floor. That’s 25 percent, boys and girls. You have to figure Harden would have made some of these, had he been able to play in the second half. If there’s an upside, it’s that Durant will sneak ahead of Bryant in PPG by a fraction of a point. At least OKC has regained its swag at the free-throw line, nailing 24 of 28. (The Lakers hit 27 of 40.)

So the likely #3 seed wins one against the almost-certain #2 seed. The people I feel for are the Staples Center crew; after this thing ran well past all understanding, they have to de-Lakerfy the joint to make ready for Hornets/Clippers in a few hours. Let James Harden be well — and let Ron Artest (I can’t say “World Peace” with a straight face) be thrown to the NBA’s regulatory hounds. It’s time to go home.

For a team that’s supposed to be terrible — Basketbawful calls them the Purple Paupers, and that’s when they’re being nice to them — the Sacramento Kings are capable of some remarkable feats. Down 15 halfway through the fourth, they reeled off seven straight points in about a minute before the Oklahoma City defense could catch its breath. Respiration did return, however, and the Kings would gain no further ground, the Thunder pulling off a 103-92 win.

Sacramento did not shoot well: they were under 40 percent most of the night, finishing just under 41. However, they did spread the scoring around: four of five starters, plus rookie Jimmer Fredette, in double figures. DeMarcus Cousins led with 18 and nine rebounds, four of them off the offensive glass. (The Thunder had only six such all night.) If anyone seemed to be underachieving, it was Travis Outlaw, who missed all six of his shots and one of two free throws, though even Outlaw had four boards. In terms of Scary Young Guys, Isaiah Thomas (12) was the dominant one early on, Tyreke Evans (16) later on.

The Thunder, however, could shoot: 53 percent from the floor, 19 of 22 from the stripe. The usual suspects got fairly typical numbers: Kevin Durant 29 (14 boards, and seven assists), James Harden 20, Russell Westbrook 18, and Serge Ibaka logged eight blocks while tossing up 12 points. (This season he’s averaging better than 3.5 blocks per game; nobody else has even two and a quarter.)

Sunday might mark a milestone of sorts: if OKC can pull off a win, they’ll have swept the Lakers, 3-0. And they’ll need to, just to stay on San Antonio’s heels. (The Spurs wasted Kobe and company 121-97 tonight.) Two home games follow, and suddenly it’s playoff time. On the question of whether it’s better to be the #2 seed, all I’m going to say is that I’m grateful for any seed in which we don’t have to play the Grizzlies in the first round. And currently, Memphis is #5, which would pit them against the #4 Clippers. Given the trouble we’ve had with both those teams, the idea of losing one of them before the second round is awfully appealing.

With Phoenix up a dozen halfway through the first quarter, Thunder fans were readying their OHNONOTAGAIN thought balloons. Oklahoma City then ran off 16 points in a row, and as the Suns fans slid into the shade, James Harden made a run for the record book. He made it, too: 40 points, a career high, on 12-17 shooting (5-8 for three) and 11-11 from the line. Plus 26, if you count stuff like that. The Thunder, though, will simply cite the W: 109-97, making a 3-0 sweep against the Suns.

Not that this was a one-man show: Kevin Durant turned in a double-double with 29 points and 11 rebounds, and Kendrick Perkins pulled down nine boards while keeping Marcin Gortat off-balance. (Gortat outrebounded everyone, with 12, but was held to nine points on 2-13 shooting.) OKC shot a tolerable 45 percent, 6-16 on treys; but take Harden’s line out, and they went 1-8 from distance.

For some reason, Grant Hill drew a DNP-CD tonight: perhaps the Suns are saving him for tomorrow night against the Clippers. Jared Dudley paced Phoenix with 21 points; Steve Nash was good for 12 and five dimes. Robin Lopez led the bench with 11. The Suns, however, left nine points at the line, while OKC was hitting 31 of 34. (Dudley, 5-10, was the worst.)

And there were a lot of technicals, four on the frustrated Suns (including one on coach Alvin Gentry), and one on, um, what a surprise, Perk. For about the sixth time, it’s his 12th. (The Oklahoman’s Darnell Mayberry says he expects this one to be rescinded.)

Two and one on the road trip, with two to go: next comes Sacramento on Friday night. Admiral Ackbar already has his seat reserved.

Nick Young, that is, the Clippers swingman who ran more or less roughshod through what passed for Thunder defense tonight as the Clips came back from an eleven-point deficit to tie the game at 66 after three quarters and utterly crush Oklahoma City in the fourth, 92-77, winning the season series and clinching a playoff spot in the process.

And Young, who got 19 points on 7-10 shooting, deserves as much credit as you can give him, because the L. A. offense was maybe half a tick better than meh. Still, Chris Paul moves the ball like nobody else — he had ten assists — and Blake Griffin mostly played like Blake Griffin, who scored 17 and retrieved 11 rebounds.

Apart from not being able to guard Young, Oklahoma City’s major problem was the inability to generate any offense in the second half. Kevin Durant, who had 19 points at halftime, finished with 24; Russell Westbrook, who had nine, finished with — nine. And the Thunder missed 11 of 29 free throws and 17 of 22 treys on the way to their worst numbers of the year.

But hey, it’s after midnight. Bring on the Suns. It can’t possibly get any worse. (Famous last words, indeed.)

I might have mentioned last time out that the Timberwolves were hurting for personnel, but I’m pretty sure I also suggested that they weren’t going to roll over and die. Which they didn’t. The Thunder kept running up the score on Minnesota, and Minnesota kept coming back: it was 34-31 after the first quarter, 59-58 at the half, and with 15 seconds left, 112-110. Russell Westbrook, who’d helped enable the last Wolves rally with two last-minute fouls, subsequently drew two fouls himself and cashed in three of four free throws to put the poor growlers out of their misery, 115-110.

Worse yet for the Wolves, they’d outshot the Thunder, hitting an even 50 percent from the floor, though they were outrebounded 52-39. J. J. Barea, always a threat, racked up 24 points and 10 assists; Nikola Peković also double-doubled with 14 points and 13 rebounds. And the two mainstays of the Minnesota bench, Michael Beasley and Anthony Randolph, rolled up 26 and 22 points respectively; Randolph also picked up 11 boards. (Weird plus/minus statistic: the Wolves starters were all minus, the reserves all plus; the exact reverse was true of Oklahoma City.)

The usual suspects weighed in for OKC: Westbrook finished with 35, and Kevin Durant wound up with 43, twenty in the fourth quarter despite being in foul trouble for most of it. James Harden did return as predicted, but he was off his game, shooting 1-11, though he did hit all four of his free throws. The bigs reeled in their share of boards: Serge Ibaka had 12, Kendrick Perkins 10, Nick Collison 8. Collison also dropped in 10 points to lead the bench.

You could look at this and say “Big deal, we swept the Wolves. We swept ‘em last year.” Which is true; but at no point in those two seasons did the Wolves act like a team you could beat seven times in a row. It is, as the local broadcast crew said, never easy against Minnesota. Nor is it easy against the Clippers, next on the schedule, Monday night in Los Angeles.

The Kings made a game of it for about twelve minutes — they trailed 23-21 after the first quarter — but the Thunder evidently decided that the best way to expunge the last remaining memory of that three-game losing streak was a good old-fashioned blowout, and that’s what they delivered, sending slumping Sacramento on its way, 115-89.

And they did it without James Harden, who was scratched due to a sore knee. (Will we see him tomorrow at Minnesota? I’m betting we do.) As usual, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook got the big numbers (29 and 22 points respectively), and Kendrick Perkins grabbed 11 rebounds in addition to scoring 11 points. In the absence of Harden, the bench was led by Derek Fisher (14) and Daequan Cook (13). And what with tornadoes south of the city, there was some early, um, rumbling about the end of the team’s season-long (and then some) stretch of sellouts. Didn’t happen: same old 18,203.

Sacramento, whose on-again-off-again deal for a new arena is off again, might have been slightly distracted, maybe. The wingmen, Marcus Thornton and Isaiah Thomas, led the scorers — Thomas had a highly-respectable 21 — but Tyreke Evans, who averages around 17, managed only two in a meager 14 minutes. Perennial pest DeMarcus Cousins, though, scored nine and hauled in 12 boards. The Kings shot a sub-blah 39 percent and were outrebounded 58-41.

Amazingly, with seven games left, two are against the Kings. They may not be pushovers next time. But first, the Timberwolves, who are much depleted these days: Rubio’s been out for weeks, Luke Ridnour is sidelined, and Kevin Love suffered an apparent concussion Wednesday at the hands — er, elbow — of Denver’s JaVale McGee. Still, Rick Adelman can beat you with half a dozen nuns and a professional Richard Simmons impersonator, so Scott Brooks will give his usual “Don’t underestimate these guys” speech before tipoff.

You’re forgiven if you weren’t thinking of the Los Angeles Clippers as a defense-minded outfit. I mean, yeah, they have Blake Griffin, though he’s known more for dunkaliciousness. But Blake was hauling in the rebounds left and right tonight — he finished with 12 — and Chris Paul, held to seven points in the first half, exploded; the Clips held the Thunder to a mere 13 points in ten minutes and took a five-point lead at the two-minute mark. Then Serge Ibaka did one of his patented Air Congo dunks, and Kevin Durant fired a three-pointer right over Griffin’s scalp, and suddenly with 32 seconds left, it was tied at 98. CP3 was not done yet: he managed to use just over 23 seconds to drive to the rim for a layup, Durant backrimmed a trey, and the Blakers, who always seem to have the Thunder’s number, pulled off a 100-98 win.

By “exploded,” incidentally, I mean “24 points in the second half.” That’s 31 for Paul. Then again, the Clips’ big push in the fourth started with the second unit, while Paul rested for the stretch run. Reserve swingman Nick Young, in fact, had the highest plus/minus of the night: +11. The Clips outshot the Thunder, 47-41 percent, though OKC had two more rebounds. (And the Thunder made 12 of 26 treys, though the question remains: why are they trying 26 treys?) L. A. didn’t get to the foul line that often, but they made 19 of 21, not bad for a team that is known for clanking them. (Even Griffin, arguably the worst, only missed one.)

The problem for OKC was too many shots that didn’t go anywhere useful, although you can probably thank the Clippers for some of that. Durant went 7-21; Russell Westbrook was 3-14. (Westbrook did put up 15 free throws, making 13 of them.) I mean, when your most efficient offense comes from Derek Fisher — 3-5, 2-2 from three, 8 points in less than 15 minutes — someone needs to raise the You’re Doing It Wrong flag. All the role-playing guys played their roles; it’s just that the stars were misaligned, or out of position, or something.

The Kings will be here Friday night. Saturday night, it’s off to Minnesota. As Scott Brooks might say, these guys can play. We’ll see the Clippers once more, at the Staples Center, as if having to play the Lakers there once more wasn’t bad enough.

After the second game this season against the Golden State Warriors, I said something to this effect:

[H]aving beaten the Warriors in Oakland twice, there’s only one more game, and that in OKC. Still, one should not underestimate this team. You know Monta Ellis isn’t tired yet.

It did not occur to me that the Thunder would have to deal with Monta Ellis a fourth time: he was dealt to the Milwaukee Bucks in March, and we hadn’t seen the Deer all year. I can tell you that they weren’t in a good mood: seven technicals were called tonight, and the Bucks got five of them. (Larry Sanders got two, which earned him a free trip to the locker room; even Milwaukee coach Scott Skiles got one.) And after they’d fought their way back to .500, the Thunder waltz into Bradleyville and hand them a 109-89 loss. No wonder the Bucks were unhappy.

Ellis, for his part, did roll up more minutes than any other Buck — thirty-two — but he managed only nine points, though he dished up seven assists. Brandon Jennings, the Bucks’ other major offensive threat, was held to 13; Ersan İlyasova led Milwaukee with 18.

I think we can pronounce Thabo Sefolosha cured of his ills: he played thirty minutes and scored 14, fourth behind Russell Westbrook (26), Kevin Durant (19) and James Harden (16). OKC led the race for rebounds, 44-35, and while 17 turnovers won’t win bragging rights, the Bucks had just as many.

So much for the East. Nine games remain against the West: two at home, five on the road, and two at home. As the phrase goes, it could be worse.

For a while, it was close. Late in the third quarter, it was OKC 58, Toronto 55, and Scott Brooks hadn’t quite figured out how to put away the Raptors. He needn’t have worried: the Thunder ran up 12 unanswered points to close the quarter, and twelve more to start the fourth. By then it was 82-55, and finally DeMar DeRozan stopped DeBleeding. The Raptors didn’t give up, but Brooks, noting that the 22-0 run was pulled off mostly by the second unit, opted to rest the starters, except for Thabo Sefolosha, in the fourth quarter, and the Thunder ultimately dispatched Toronto, 91-75.

Part of Toronto’s problem was losing Andrea Bargnani early to a calf strain; he’d gotten seven points and five rebounds in 13 minutes before exiting. However, José Calderón and Gary Forbes, both announced as day-to-day, were able to play. (Calderón led all Toronto scorers with 19; Forbes led the bench with eight.) And the Raptors outrebounded the Thunder 43-42, though offensive-glass grabs were even at 11.

With fewer minutes to work with — only Kevin Durant played even 30 — the big Thunder scorers did not score big: Durant had 23, James Harden 17, Russell Westbrook 15. You want numbers, look at Nick Collison: six points, three steals, nine rebounds (seven offensive). As glue guys go, he’s the real thing: 100 percent organic mucilage.

In this abbreviated season, we’re not seeing much of the East: this is the only matchup with Toronto this year. Tomorrow, a trip to Milwaukee to see if the Deer merit fear, and that’s it for cross-conference play: the last nine games will be against Western foes, including two against the Clippers and three against the Kings. (Season ends on the 25th with a visit from the Nuggets.)

The Indiana Pacers hadn’t yet had a shot at the Thunder this season, but they knew what to do: run up a big lead and then hold on. By “big,” I mean 12 points after the first quarter, 24 points midway through the third. The OKC never-say-die drill, had it started earlier, might have paid off; but the closest they would get would be three, and they lost it by five, 103-98.

Neither side shot especially well — OKC 44 percent, Indiana 41 — and both were fairly blah from the three-point line (6-19 each). But the Pacers snagged 50 rebounds, 18 offensive, versus 40 and 11 for the Thunder, and seemingly as always, the OKC turnover number, this time 17, was alarming. The usual suspects got most of the points for Indiana — Danny Granger 26, Roy Hibbert 21 (with 12 boards), David West 14 — but perhaps the biggest thorn in OKC’s side was second-year guard Paul George, who before fouling out picked up eight points and a career-high 16 rebounds. (And he played nearly as much time as Granger, which meant that Frank Vogel decided to leave the kid in while he was on a roll. Good call, Frank.)

While the Pacers were spreading the offense around, the Thunder was relying on the All-Star contingent, and they got All-Star worthy numbers — eventually. (Russell Westbrook had only three points at halftime, yet finished with 21; Kevin Durant went off for 44.) Your telltale statistic, though: Derek Fisher was +12, tops on the team, despite scoring zilch and accumulating five fouls. The OKC bench contributed only 18 points, ten from James Harden, eight from Nick Collison, but they had at least some success keeping the Pacers from running up the score even more.

And now follows a trap game: Sunday at the ‘Peake against Toronto, a team with a miserable record, but which had a miserable record last year and still swept the Thunder. Even the Easter Bunny might have his doubts about this one.