Thunder clobber Lakers 119-90 in Game 1

By JEFF LATZKE

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Russell Westbrook had 27 points and nine assists, Kevin Durant added 25 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder blasted the weary Los Angeles Lakers 119-90 on Monday night in the opening game of the Western Conference semifinals.

The Thunder took a 15-point halftime lead, then opened the third quarter with a 15-2 blitz filled with crowd-pleasing 3-pointers and dunks.

Oklahoma City led by as many as 35 points, getting a measure of vengeance for the elbow Metta World Peace delivered to the head of the Thunder's James Harden three weeks earlier - and without needing dirty tactics to do it.

Thunder starting center Kendrick Perkins limped off after aggravating a hip injury from the first round.

Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum scored 20 points each for the Lakers and Bynum had 14 rebounds.

The Thunder committed a franchise-record four turnovers.

Two games after trailing by as many as 28 points in a blowout loss in Game 6 in Denver, it got even worse for the Lakers. They responded to that loss by beating the Nuggets 96-87 in a thrilling Game 7 on Saturday night.

They'll need another big bounce back for Game 2 in Oklahoma City on Wednesday night.

While the Lakers were making a quick turnaround less than 48 hours after ending the first round, the Thunder had eight full days off following their first-round sweep of defending NBA champion Dallas.

It got out of hand just after halftime, in highlight-reel fashion. Durant lobbed the ball to Westbrook for a two-handed slam, then connected on a 3-pointer from the left wing to draw a timeout from Lakers coach Mike Brown.

That still didn't slow down Oklahoma City, which got what could have been a costly two-handed dunk from Perkins on its next trip and then another 3 from Durant before Thabo Sefolosha swiped the ball from Bryant and ran out for a layup that made it 74-46 with 8:39 left in the period.

Both coaches started going to their benches with 8 1/2 minutes left, and Los Angeles reserve Devin Ebanks ended up getting ejected with 2:18 to play after walking up to a scrum for the ball after the whistle. Official Greg Willard said at the scorer's table that he was ejected for "what he said" in drawing a technical foul. It ended up tying for the 12th-worst blowout in Lakers playoff history.

Perkins returned to the bench but did not come back into the game after getting hurt. He had missed most of the week of practice after straining a muscle in his right hip in the final game of the Dallas series.

The buildup to the game focused largely on it being the first meeting between the teams since World Peace gave Harden a concussion by elbowing him in the head three weeks ago, in the final stretch of the regular season.

World Peace got a seven-game suspension, returning just in time to help L.A. win Game 7 against Denver.

A sold-out crowd at Chesapeake Energy Arena wasn't nearly as happy to see him back, although World Peace - who changed his name from Ron Artest - was hardly fazed by the chorus of boos that greeted him during pregame introductions or again whenever the ball came his way.

World Peace knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key amid boos the first time he touched the ball, set up a two-handed jam by Bynum and drilled another 3 within the first 2 1/2 minutes.

The Thunder turned an early six-point deficit around with a 19-7 run punctuated by Harden's driving layup that led to a three-point play and a 25-19 lead, and they never trailed again.

If the Lakers' legs were weary, it showed most on the defensive end. Oklahoma City shot 53 percent and the league's most turnover-prone team committed only one - Harden's failed alley-oop pass for Durant that banged off the glass and was grabbed by World Peace - while building a 59-44 halftime lead.

Notes: Bryant tied former teammate Shaquille O'Neal for the third-most playoff games in NBA history with 216. ... Perkins was called for a lane violation in the first quarter after arguing with Willard about a call and then walking up to his spot along the lane while Bynum was shooting. Bynum made both foul shots when awarded the extra chance. ... Toby Keith's daughter, Krystal, sang the national anthem.

Lakers take on the Oklahoma City Thunder Monday, May 14th at Chesapeake Energy Arena at 6:30PM. Catch all the action on TNT and 710ESPN.

POSTGAME QUOTES



Mike Brown:

Opening Statement:
“I have to give Oklahoma City credit. I thought they did a terrific job attacking the way we tried to defend pick and rolls. We didn’t do a good job of staying in our coverage right throughout the course of the game. (Russell)Westbrook and (Kevin) Durant got some shots that weren’t contested as well as we wanted them to. Our guards and our bigs had a little trouble with our pick and roll coverage tonight as well as our weak side, and it just opened up a lot of things for those two guys over the course of the game, but especially when they went on the runs. Then they got aggressive and started going downhill, not necessarily making buckets all the time, but getting to the free throw line while they were going downhill. But, you give them credit because they were extremely physical tonight and they did a good job of staying up in us, forcing our offense to look stagnant at times because of the physicality, and that’s something that we’re going to have to combat in the next game.”

Was tonight’s game the result of fatigue?:
“We got beat tonight. You can say anything you want to about the seven-game series and us having a day, or whatever, but bottom line is this is the playoffs and we have to come to play. We didn’t. We got beat. It’s one game, so we have to bounce back to the next one.”

On Russell Westbrook’s performance?:
“I thought he was good. I thought he was a good pick and roll early on. I thought he was good in the post as the game went along. He had a great performance on both ends of the floor.”

What do you have to do from keeping Durant and Westbrook from getting those types of looks again?:
“We have to do a better job of trying to execute pick and roll coverage in the way that we had talked about. If we can, hopefully that will limit them some. If we don’t, and they’re able to turn the corner like they did tonight, it’s going to be a tough night for us.”

Were you surprised at how quickly this thing got out of hand?:
“A little bit. It got out of hand quickly with those guys making pull up jump shots. We didn’t get contests on it and like I said, we didn’t execute pick and roll coverage all the time. But at times, it’s one of the toughest shots in the game when you feel like you know you have somebody coming behind you and someone stepping out in front of you. I have to give those guys credit. It’s something that Durant does get and Westbrook has shown he is capable of. Both of those guys hit it tonight.”

On if the Lakers left their energy in the past series:
“This team (Thunder) obviously had rest but they came out and hit shot after shot to get the lead. Sometimes, even when we would contest, they would still hit a bunch of shots.”

On what he and Pau Gasol talked about after the game:
“We were just talking about what we were going to do offensively as far getting us more involved in the high-low, because we have an advantage there and we have to get to it. They were being aggressive in trying to take away options. They obviously had seven days to study us, so they know our offense. We need to be aggressive.”

On if the series is going to be one-sided:
“We know it’s going to be back and forth. We need to make adjustments. We have a lot of tape to watch and we have to see exactly how they killed us and then try and correct it.”

On if the Thunder are ‘as good as advertised’:
“Obviously, they’re a good team but tonight they shot exceptionally well. We need to make defensive adjustments on them.”

On the game:
“I mean, I thought we did ok. You know, it was a game, a game of adjustments and I thought we did ok. We played Denver at home also and they blew us out also. So we keep focusing.”

Ok is not going to do it with this team, how do you have to improve?
“I think that’s obvious. I think it’s obvious you have got to do better than ok. But we’ll be ok.”

Are you discouraged by how you played or do you just shake it off?
“No, not discouraged, not at all. We’ve been through, I mean just being here, I’ve been through more tough games. We should be ok.”

Did any of the crowd or booing affect you at all?
“I mean, I think the Oklahoma City fans do a good job of supporting their players and their team. Obviously, the city of Oklahoma has to be some of the best fans in the NBA. They took on a team that needed shelter and they were able to support their team and able to pay the players. So obviously they love basketball here.”

On containing Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant:
“We have to do a better job on screen and roll coverages. [The Thunder] were coming off screens, rising and getting great looks at the basket, so we have to do a much better job on that.”

On starting 7-for-8 and then falling behind:
“[The Thunder] came in extremely well prepared and moved their defense around extremely well. [The Thunder] set great screens and found a great rhythm.”

Opening Statement:
“We played a good defensive game and offensively with only four turnovers. I thought a lot of guys stepped up tonight. Nazr (Mohammed) came in and gave us solid minutes. Nick (Collison) hit some timely shots. Russell (Westbrook), Kevin (Durant) and James obviously played a very good game. Our offense was good and we didn’t turn the ball over. That’s been a problem most of the season and the last series we did a good job of taking care of that, and we did it again tonight.”

On the bench tonight and Kendrick Perkins:
“Our bench was good, and they’ve been good all year. We’ve had guys step up throughout the season even when we had some injuries. Guys came in and filled their role. We did a really good job of defending. They had 10 offensive rebounds in the first half, four on one possession and, in the second half, they only had three. That was a big point of emphasis going into this game. They’re a very good team. They’re big. They’re strong and they crash the boards. We wanted to make sure we put a body on them. Perk (Kendrick Perkins) re-aggravated his hip and came back on the bench. He was ready to play but we didn’t need him at that time. He’ll get some treatments and we’ll see how he feels tomorrow.”

On the team’s performance tonight:
“With the turnovers we’ve had throughout the season, it’s good to see the last series and tonight that we only had four turnovers. That’s huge. We’ve had four in the first six minutes of games sometimes. We did a great job taking care of the basketball. That’s one of the things that we talked about all year and we’ve really done a good job of that. Kobe Bryant is one of the best players to ever, ever play this game and all we want to do is make him take some tough shots, and he can make those tough shots. We did a good job on him, but it’s only one game. We need to do the same thing come Wednesday night.”

On different guys stepping up offensively and defensively:
“I thought DC (Daequan Cook) had good minutes. Naz came in and gave us good minutes when Perk re-aggravated his hip. Bynum is one of the best bigs in basketball and we did a good job of not giving him the easy opportunities. But he had a good game. Same thing with Gasol—we want to make sure that he doesn’t get a lot of easy shots, but he still had a good game. I thought our bench did a really good job of taking care of the basketball, holding each other accountable on defense and rebounding the ball.” Were you surprised about the domination of the game?:
“We play good basketball. Like I told the guys, it’s one game. It’s the first team to four that wins this series. Regardless if we won by one or 20, it doesn’t have any impact on Wednesday night with the same energy. We know that the Lakers are going to play much better.”

Talk about your defense on Kobe tonight?
“It’s always tough going against a guy like that. You have to be really focused on staying in front of him. Just making it tough on him.”

Does this moving forward mean anything?
“It means we are up 1-0, but you know there is a lot more basketball to be played so you know we aren’t going to get overly excited. But I think the first win is good to take, and we did what we were supposed to. Now we got to get back to work and worry about game two now.”

How you controlled the game tonight:
“I think it was a team effort. Everybody came out tonight and did a great job of distributing the ball, finding open guys, and getting easy shots. It was a good thing for us and we took care of the ball.”

Are you playing your best basketball of the year right now as a team?:
“I think we are doing a pretty good job. Like Kevin said, I think we could always play better. We’re just taking care of business and home court. For improvement, we are going to go back and watch tape to see what we can get better at.”

How do you feel this game 1 feels different from your previous game 1?:
“I just feel a little more experienced and a lot more comfortable. My team does a great job of getting me open, getting me to the spot and getting me affected. I’m just feeling a lot more comfortable in my fourth year now.”

On playing so well after a long break:
“To be honest, I think we needed a few days off. With the way the season is going – we are almost playing every other day. So a few days did help. Coach (Brooks) did a great job of letting us go at it in practice by competing hard in practice. It got us ready. We came out tonight with a lot of energy. We have to do that the rest of the series. It’s going to be a tough series. I’m looking forward to it.”

Are you playing your best basketball of the year right now as a team?:
“To be honest, I think we could be better. We could do a lot of things better such as executing on the offensive end, helping each other out more on the defensive end and cutting down on our turnovers. We did a decent job tonight but we have to keep pressing. But, I don’t think we are the best right now. We can always get better and I think if we have that mindset, then we have a good chance. It’s all about growing and learning from our mistakes.”

Is the 2010 series against the Lakers fueling your development as a team?:
“That was two years ago. It was a great learning experience for us. Lakers are a tough team and they play us tough each time. We respect them a lot. I think the 2010 series, we made them respect us too. But at the same time, no matter who we play, we want to come out and play our game, which is defense first and playing together on the offensive end. At this point, it’s about us and how we can do well as a team. At the same time, we are always growing and always getting better.”

Thoughts on tonight’s game:
“We did a pretty good job on the defensive end and a great job of offensive rebounding. That was one of the big keys. We just tried to keep them off the boards. It felt great to be back on the court after a long time off.”

Thoughts on the 20 assists and four turnovers by the team tonight:
“Russell [Westbrook] and Kevin [Durant] did a great job of finding everyone and really controlling the ball. That was a key to the game.

Thoughts on the big run to start the third quarter:
“The first group did a great job of executing and getting a couple easy baskets and Kevin [Durant] hit a couple threes. Everyone helped out and did a great job, too.”

Lakers - Thunder Preview

JEFF LATZKE

Metta World Peace made his return from a seven-game suspension in front of a home crowd eager for him to help the Los Angeles Lakers survive a first-round playoff scare and advance with a thrilling Game 7 victory.

His next stop doesn't figure to be nearly so friendly. The Lakers start the Western Conference semifinals Monday night at Oklahoma City in the teams' first meeting since World Peace - formerly known as Ron Artest - gave the Thunder's James Harden a concussion by hitting him in the head with his elbow.

Oklahoma City has had more than a week to anticipate the matchup after sweeping defending NBA champion Dallas in the first round, giving fans plenty of time to get fired up to welcome a player who became instantly infamous three weeks ago.

''Good, old-fashioned Southern hospitality. That's the type of reception that I expect that he'll get, and that's fair game,'' said former teammate Derek Fisher, now a bench player for the Thunder. ''The fans will be excited. I'm looking forward to being on this side of these fans this time at this point in the season.

''I can only imagine the amount of energy they have stored up. We'll have to properly use that energy. Can't get too caught up in it.''

With Harden leading the way, the Thunder insisted they're over the incident that happened in the Lakers' 114-106 double-overtime victory on April 22 in Los Angeles. Instead, they're focused on reaching the conference finals for a second straight year.

''What can I say? The focus is going out there and doing whatever it takes to win,'' Harden said after practice Sunday. ''I'm not worried about him or what he has to say.''

World Peace proclaimed after the Lakers' win over Denver the previous night that he doesn't shake the hands of substitutions, even his best friends. So Harden, the league's Sixth Man of the Year, certainly isn't getting one to go along with the personal apology he never got.

''Shaking hands is, like, so low on our concerns right now, it's not really an issue,'' Oklahoma City forward Nick Collison said.

''I think we're going to be ready to play.''

Starting center Kendrick Perkins went through Oklahoma City's practice Sunday for the first time since straining a muscle in his right hip in a Game 4 victory against Dallas eight days earlier.

Collison and Harden said they expect Perkins to play in Game 1, although coach Scott Brooks refuses to make a decision until at least Monday and possibly not until game time.

Perkins was active enough in practice to sweat through his T-shirt, and he appeared to be pain-free during a round of jump shots after practice. He was not made available to speak to reporters.

Beyond providing resistance to the Lakers' All-Star frontcourt tandem of Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, he's also the team's primary enforcer if there's another dust-up.

''That's the only thing that we care about: It's the first to four who wins the series,'' Brooks said. ''The subplots, that's part of NBA basketball. You don't worry about that. If you focus on that, your attention, your focus is not where it needs to be.

''We understand what happened. It happened. We moved on weeks ago.''

That may not hold true for the sellout crowd expected at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

''That's not my concern. My concern is playing the game of basketball,'' World Peace said on TNT after the Lakers' Game 7 win.

''Everything else is not really - it's not important to me.''

Fisher has the unique perspective of having won five NBA titles with the Lakers before they traded him away this season. He bought out his contract with the Houston Rockets and signed with Oklahoma City in late March, and perhaps it was inevitable that he would face his former team now.

He agreed with Kobe Bryant's sentiment that the series would compare to playing against his brother, although he considered even those to be loaded words.

''Your brother oftentimes was the recipient of some of the hardest blows you ever delivered. I'm sure he's planning to deliver quite a few, and I'll be ready to deliver some as well,'' Fisher said. ''It's going to be fun to just have to compete against the best. That's what we want to be.''

Beating the Lakers may be the only way to take all the focus off what happened three weeks ago and put it back on the championship chase.

''Hopefully, he has the same feelings that we all have. It's a bad play. It should have never happened,'' Brooks said. ''But we're focused on playing basketball. It's not going to be between James and Ron. It's going to be about us playing good basketball as a team to beat that team.''

5/12/12 W LAL 96, DEN 87	5/10/12 L DEN 113, LAL 96	5/08/12 L DEN 99, LAL 96	5/06/12 W LAL 92, DEN 88	5/04/12 L DEN 99, LAL 84

SEASON & SERIES NOTES; CONNECTIONS
The Lakers lost their season series with Oklahoma City 1-2 after taking last season’s series from the Thunder 2-1. Entering this season, the Lakers had taken six straight season series from Oklahoma City, going 3-1 against the Thunder in 2009-10, sweeping 2008-09 (3-0) and 2007-08 (4-0) and taking 2006-07 (3-1) and 2005-06 (2-1). Meeting two years ago in the First Round of the 2010 NBA Playoffs, the Lakers advanced past the Thunder in six games (4-2) and improved to 6-2 in postseason series against the franchise. The two teams have met 224 times in the regular season but just 13 times (9-4) since the Thunder relocated to Oklahoma City prior to the 2008-09 season. The Lakers 75-91 loss 3/26/10 at Oklahoma City snapped their 12-game win streak over the Thunder and marked their first loss to the Thunder since the team’s relocation from Seattle. The Lakers are 16-5 in their last 21 regular season games against Oklahoma City. On the road against the Thunder, the Lakers have gone 7-3 in their last 10 overall. The Lakers have now played eight times during the regular season at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, going 0-2 against the New Orleans Hornets while the team was temporarily relocated from 2005-07 and 4-2 against the Thunder. At home, the Lakers have gone 8-2 in their last 10 games against the Thunder. The Lakers are 16-10 all-time against Oklahoma City at STAPLES Center. In 2006- 07, Kobe Bryant established a Lakers series record with 46 points 4/6/07 at KeyArena only to surpass it nine days later with 50 points 4/15/07 at home against the then Sonics. In those games, he surpassed the old mark of 45 points Jerry West established in 1970 and Bryant himself matched in January of 2003. Thunder guard Russell Westbrook played collegiately at UCLA and in high school at Leuzinger (Lawndale, CA) while teammate and Los Angeles native James Harden played locally at Artesia High School. Thunder head coach Scott Brooks also played locally prior to his NBA career at UC-Irvine. Thunder guard Derek Fisher played 12+ seasons with the Lakers, winning five championships during his tenure. Prior to being traded to Houston, subsequently securing a buy-out from the Rockets, becoming an unrestricted free agent and signing with the Thunder, Fisher appeared in 43 games with the Lakers this season (all starts), averaging 5.9 points, 2.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 25.6 minutes.

BRYANT AVERAGING 20+ POINTS IN FRANCHISE RECORD 31 STRAIGHT PLAYOFF SERIES
With a 29.1 point-per-game average during the Lakers First Round series with Denver, Kobe Bryant recorded his 31st consecutive playoff series averaging 20+ points per game, the longest such streak in Lakers history. Bryant last failed to average 20 points in a playoff series in the 2000 Finals vs. Indiana (15.6 ppg).*

GASOL AND BLAKE COME UP BIG IN GAME 7
In the Lakers 96-87 Game 7 victory over the Nuggets on May 12, Pau Gasol finished with a game-high 23 points, 17 rebounds (11 offensive) and 6 assists, becoming just the fifth Laker in franchise history to hit each of those marks in a playoff game. The only others to do so were Elgin Baylor (8 times), Shaquille O’Neal (4 times), Wilt Chamberlain (twice) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (once). The Lakers second leading scorer on the night, Steve Blake, scored a playoff career-high 19 points (7-11 FG, 5-6 3FG). The last Laker to record 19-plus points and 5-plus three-pointers off the bench in a playoff game was Michael Cooper, who did so on June 4, 1987 in the NBA Finals against the Celtics. In that game, Cooper totaled 21 points and shot 6-of-7 from three-point range in the Lakers 141-122 Game 2 win.*

BRYANT PASSES JORDAN ON NBA’S ALL-TIME PLAYOFF ASSIST LIST
With a team-high 8 assists in the Lakers 96-87 victory over the Denver Nuggets on May 12, Kobe Bryant (1,023) moved past Michael Jordan (8th/1,022) for seventh on the NBA’s All-Time Playoff Assist List. Next on the list is Scottie Pippen (6th/1,048). Magic Johnson ranks first on the list with 2,346 career playoff assists.

LAKERS IN GAME 7 (Any round)
The Lakers have now played 25 Game 7’s in franchise history. The Lakers are now 16-8 in Game 7 (any round) all-time. (14-7 Los Angeles, 2-1 Minneapolis) In Game 7 HOME games, the Lakers are now 15-1 all-time (13-1 Los Angeles, 2-0 Minneapolis) The Lakers have now won 11 straight Game 7 HOME games, with their last and only loss coming in the 1969 NBA Finals vs. Boston (106-108) Last two Game 7 wins: 2012 Western Conference First Round 5/12/12 vs. Denver (96-87); 2010 NBA Finals 6/17/10 vs. Boston (83-79) Last two Game 7 losses: 2006 Western Conference First Round 5/6/06 @ Phoenix (90-121); 1984 NBA Finals 6/12/84 at Boston (102-111)

ELIMINATION GAMES
The Lakers are now 44-42 in postseason elimination games (games in which a loss would end a Lakers playoff run), going 35-36 since moving to Los Angeles and 9-6 while playing in Minneapolis. Since 2000, the Lakers are 9-6 in 15 elimination games: Game 7 of the WC First Round vs. Denver (W), Game 4 of the WC Semifinals at Dallas (L), Game 6 & 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals vs. Boston (W), Game 7 of the 2009 WC Semifinals vs. Houston (W), Game 6 of the 2008 NBA Finals at Boston (L), Game 5 of the 2008 NBA Finals vs. Boston (W), Game 5 of the 2007 WC First Round at Phoenix (L), Game 7 of the 2006 WC First Round at Phoenix (L), Game 5 of the 2004 NBA Finals at Detroit (L), Game 6 of the 2003 WC Semis versus San Antonio (L), Game 7 of the 2002 WC Finals at Sacramento (W), Game 6 of the 2002 WC Finals vs. Sacramento (W), Game 7 of the 2000 WC Finals vs. Portland (W) and Game 5 of the 2000 WC First Round vs. Sacramento (W).

CLOSING IT OUT
After taking a 3-1 series lead against Denver, the Lakers missed their first and second opportunities to close out their Western Conference First Round series with the Nuggets, ultimately advancing on their third attempt after a Game 7 win. With a three-point loss to the Denver Nuggets (99-102) in Game 5 of their 2012 opening round playoff series, the Lakers failed to close out an opponent on the FIRST attempt for just the fourth time since 2001 (5/8/12 vs. DEN, 5/14/09 @ HOU, 5/2/06 @ PHX, 5/29/04 @ MIN). Dating back to 2001, the Lakers have now closed out an opponent on the FIRST try 22 times in their last 26 opportunities. The Lakers last loss in a HOME closeout game prior to their Game 5 loss to Denver came in Game 6 5/4/06 vs. Phoenix in overtime (118-126 OT), their second opportunity to close out the Suns in that series.

Since acquiring Pau Gasol prior to their 2008 Playoff run, the Lakers are now 13-3 overall in closeout games (games in which the Lakers have held the opportunity to close out a series). In 2010, with an 83-79 Game 7 victory over the Boston Celtics, the Lakers closed out their fourth opponent on the FIRST try of the 2010 postseason, previously taking Game 6 of the First Round 95-94 at Oklahoma City, Game 4 of the Conference Semifinals 111-96 at Utah and Game 6 of the Conference Finals 111-103 at Phoenix. In 2009, the Lakers closed out the Jazz, Nuggets and the Magic on the FIRST opportunity but needed two attempts to eliminate the Rockets from the Conference Semifinals. In 2008, the Lakers closed out Denver, Utah and San Antonio on their FIRST opportunity.

Overall, the Lakers have won 34 of their last 35 series when holding the opportunity to close-out at any point. Their last series loss when having a close-out game came in 2006 when the Lakers squandered a 3-1 series lead against the Phoenix Suns. Prior to that, the Lakers had not lost a series when having a close-out game since the 1993 First Round vs. Phoenix in which they led 2-0 before losing the next three.