Thunder finish off Lakers in 106-90 win
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E-mail China Daily, May 23, 2012
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Los Angeles Lakers small forward Metta World Peace (15) is charged with a flagrant foul on Oklahoma City Thunder shooting guard Thabo Sefolosha (2) in the first half of Game 5 of the NBA Western Conference semifinals in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on Monday. Steve Sisney / Reuters |
With the Oklahoma City Thunder just starting to come to life, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant didn't need to take a break. They will have enough time to rest as they get ready for a second straight trip to the Western Conference finals.
Westbrook scored 28 points, Durant added 25 points and 10 rebounds, and the two All-Stars skipped their usual rest periods to power the Thunder ahead in the second half for a 106-90 win over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 5 of the West semifinals on Monday night.
"We know that's the most important time ... especially in a tight game," Durant said. "I think that we kept our composure throughout the fourth, and our poise and we made plays."
Kobe Bryant scored 42 points for the Lakers and took the briefest of rests - less than 2 minutes - in the second half. It didn't even take that long for the game, and their season, to slip away.
After getting eliminated by Los Angeles in 2010 and Dallas in 2011 before those teams went on to win it all, the Thunder knocked both out on their way to the West finals for the second straight year.
The only other time the franchise made consecutive conference finals was from 1978-80, including Seattle's only NBA title in 1979.
Once there, they'll face the top-seeded Spurs, the only team other than the Lakers or Mavs to win the West in the past 13 years and currently riding an 18-game winning streak. The series starts on Sunday night in San Antonio.
After Westbrook's pair of three-point plays fueled a 14-3 burst that put Oklahoma City ahead to stay late in the third quarter, Durant hit two 3-pointers as the Thunder scored the first 10 points of the fourth to push their lead to 93-77.
Bryant was waiting to check in when Durant connected on his second 3-pointer, just 89 seconds into the fourth quarter. But by the time he got in, there was little he could do - despite the 13th 40-point game of his playoff career.
"That what we do. That's our rotations and that's the right rotation to make," Bryant said. "You have to trust that unit coming in there to hold the fort down."
Lakers coach Mike Brown said he backed that unit - including starters Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum - after it had turned a 5-point deficit into a lead to start the second quarter.
"I've got to be able to rest Kobe a few minutes here and there, and we didn't do a good job of handling it at that point in the game," Brown said, adding he didn't keep Bryant out as long as he had planned.
Westbrook went running to the scorer's table and pumped his fist in the air after his first energizing 3-point play, when he was able to flip the ball in after Ramon Sessions fouled him on the fast break.
"I just tried to throw it to the rim and luckily it went in. That kind of sparked us, and everybody else kept it going from there," Westbrook said.
Westbrook converted another after banking in a jumper from the left side despite Sessions slapping him on the arm to make it 82-76 with 1:29 left in the third quarter.
Durant extended the lead with a 3-pointer in the opening minute of the fourth and then hit another 32 seconds later - just after Bryant had stepped to the scorer's table to check in after a brief rest.
Bryant described the loss as "tough, to say the least."
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