Final: That does it folks. Good night!
Final: Lakers drop to 8-18. Thunder improve to 13-14, as they make their playoff push. Westbrook finishes with 31.
Final: Kobe struggled throughout the night, as he shot just 3-of-15 for 9. Davis led the Lakers in scoring with 18.
Final: Kobe faked Roberson but Roberson did a great job of not committing the foul.
4th Quarter (:00): Kobe misses the shot, and the Thunder win! What a great finish.
4th Quarter (:06): Here we go. Final play of the game.
4th Quarter (:06): Westbrook misses, and the Lakers take control of the ball down by one. Timeout Lakers.
4th Quarter (:32): Lin goes two for one, as he hits a 15-foot jumper.
4th Quarter (:38): Westbrook with a pull up jumper. He's got 31, as he gives the Thunder a three-point lead.
4th Quarter (1:05): Thunder - 102 Lakers - 101. LAL ball.
4th Quarter (1:05): Boozer with his typical push and is called for a loose ball foul, sending Reggie Jackson to the line.
4th Quarter (2:01): Boozer drops in a two over Ibaka. Lakers now back up by one.
4th Quarter (2:15): Thunder - 100 Lakers - 99.
4th Quarter (2:15): Ibaka nets home a long two, and now the Thunder have the lead back.
4th Quarter (2:35): Kobe with a tough fall away over Roberson.
4th Quarter (3:07): Ibaka with a clean swat on Boozer and wags his finger.
4th Quarter (3:33): Jackson with a beautiful move near the rim to give the Thunder the lead back. What a game this has turned out to be.
4th Quarter (3:57): Ellington good move to the rim, as he finds Boozer underneath for a two.
4th Quarter (4:34): Westbrook takes it to the rim and finishes to give his team the lead again.
4th Quarter (4:58): Adams tips in a shot on an alley-oop play and gets fouled but misses the costless throw.
4th Quarter (5:34): Ed Davis with another tip in after a miss.
4th Quarter (5:56): Thunder - 92 Lakers - 93.
4th Quarter (6:18): Westbrook hit a jumper on one end, and Davis followed Boozer's miss with a tip on the other end.
4th Quarter (6:48): Lakers seem energized since Young's ejection.
4th Quarter (7:13): Ellington drills another three. It's a three-point lead by L.A.
4th Quarter (7:48): Lin gets a bounce on his shot. 10-2 run by the Lakers. It's all tied up.
4th Quarter (7:59): Lakers playing with more energy in this quarter.
4th Quarter (8:13): Boozer hits a two, and the lead is down to two.
4th Quarter (9:22): Young's three earlier in the quarter was changed to a two, so it's a four-point game.
4th Quarter (9:22): Ellington drains a three. Thunder lead down to three.
4th Quarter (9:57): Jackson throws a lop to Adams.
4th Quarter (11:08): Adams with a two-handed throw down after missing two costless throws due to the flagrant foul.
4th Quarter (11:24): Young shoves Adams. Young gets a flagrant-two. He is thrown out of the game.
4th Quarter (11:24): Young hits a three. Then on the other end, he gets into it with Adams, a guy known for getting under people's skin.
3rd Quarter (:00): Boozer with a terrible pass in the backcourt, resulting into a Morrow three at the buzzer. Well, it may be a two after review. It looked like Morrow's foot was over the line.
3rd Quarter (:24): Young with a wild three and hits it. He was trying to draw the foul but didn't get it.
3rd Quarter (:37): Jackson hits a three, and Morrow gets fouled away from the ball. A chance for a four-point opportunity for OKC who now lead by eight.
3rd Quarter (1:22): Jackson drills in another long jumper.
3rd Quarter (1:50): Roberson gets a three. He has two tonight, four for the season.
3rd Quarter (2:15): Boozer gets a basket and a foul. Good strong move.
3rd Quarter (2:37): Roberson just air balled a costless throw.
3rd Quarter (2:37): Thunder - 70 Lakers - 68.
3rd Quarter (3:29): But Ibaka gets a bucket in the lane and-one.
3rd Quarter (3:48): Bryant finds Johnson for a three. It's a tie game. Lakers playing zone defense.
3rd Quarter (4:11): Jackson hits a long two. He is coming through for OKC tonight.
3rd Quarter (4:46): Westbrook to the rim again for an easy layup.
3rd Quarter (5:09): Davis with a swat on Jones then gets fed for an alley-oop dunk. Johnson with a sweet no-look pass.
3rd Quarter (5:30): Kobe is 2-of-10 tonight.
3rd Quarter (6:45): Ibaka hits another three.
3rd Quarter (7:10): Thunder - 61 Lakers - 57.
3rd Quarter (7:49): Then he sets up Adams for a baby hook in the paint.
3rd Quarter (8:12): Westbrook puts in a jumper.
3rd Quarter (8:38): Wow, Johnson takes up a desperation fade away jumper and hits.
3rd Quarter (9:21): Hill connects on a jumper.
3rd Quarter (10:09): Ibaka starts the half up with a three.
3rd Quarter (10:28): The Lakers playing off of Roberson as expected. No field goals by either team.
2nd Quarter (:00): Thunder - 52 Lakers - 50. Westbrook with a terrific first half. 21 points and five assists.
2nd Quarter (:27): Ed Davis flips up a shot and ties the game back up.
2nd Quarter (:40): Thunder take their first lead of the night off an Ibaka dunk.
2nd Quarter (1:08): Roberson tipping Westbrook's miss and we are tied again.
2nd Quarter (1:38): Westbrook all the way to the rim. Showing his explosiveness.
2nd Quarter (1:55): Kobe finally gets his first field goal.
2nd Quarter (2:29): Ed Davis with a two handed flush.
2nd Quarter (2:43): Westbrook back to the line again for his 12th and 13th attempts. Timeout on the floor. Thunder - 42 Lakers - 44.
2nd Quarter (3:25): Jackson hits a three and just like that it's a tie game.
2nd Quarter (4:21): Hill drains a jump shot to beat the shot clock buzzer.
2nd Quarter (4:54): Roberson with a strong move to the basket for a layup.
2nd Quarter (5:05): Kobe looks sick. He was hunched over on the bench with towels over his head.
2nd Quarter (5:05): Kobe fouled. He will look to earn his first points of the game from the foul line.
2nd Quarter (5:19): As bad as the Thunder are playing, the Lakers are not taking much advantage. They only lead by four. You would think they would be up by 15-plus the way this game has gone.
2nd Quarter (5:42): Westbrook steals it from Kobe and leads a fast break for a Jackson stuff.
2nd Quarter (6:09): Kobe still has zero points.
2nd Quarter (6:24): Westbrook is not scoring from the field, but he continues to draw fouls on the Lakers. He is going to the line for his 8th and 9th costless throw attempts.
2nd Quarter (7:20): Westbrook back into the game. Thunder need his scoring badly right now.
2nd Quarter (7:20): Young with a layup. Lakers back up by 10.
2nd Quarter (8:00): Boozer has been the only Laker to attempt costless throws.
2nd Quarter (8:25): Lakers to the line for the first time. The three-pointer has been good for L.A. that's why they haven't gone to the line much.
2nd Quarter (8:53): Thunder - 24 Lakers - 34.
2nd Quarter (9:18): Ellington hits a three.
2nd Quarter (10:16): Some sloppy play by the Lakers results into back-to-back shots for Reggie Jackson.
2nd Quarter (11:42): Nick Young drills a three!
1st Quarter (:00): Thunder - 20 Lakers - 26. Pretty good quarter for the Lakers. Ronnie Price got them out to a quick start with his hot shooting. The defense has been alright.
1st Quarter (:31): Jeremy Lin has come out firing as well.
1st Quarter (1:32): This has been a very slow offensive game.
1st Quarter (3:18): Reggie Jackson hits a three, and it's only five-point Lakers lead.
1st Quarter (4:14): Ronnie Price another three! He's sizzling. He's got 13 points already.
1st Quarter (4:33): Westbrook just too quick and explosive.
1st Quarter (5:46): Wesley Johnson shaken up after twisting his ankle. He is okay. As for Ibaka, he left the game to go get his mouth checked.
1st Quarter (6:26): Ronnie Price knocks down another three.
1st Quarter (6:44): Westbrook with a jumper and-one. Great job of getting Price in the air and drawing the contact.
1st Quarter (6:51): Thunder - 4 Lakers - 14. Serge Ibaka got hit on the mouth by Jordan Hill and he is down and has yet to get up.
1st Quarter (7:26): Price again! He's on fire. Another three.
1st Quarter (7:55): Price hits a three. Fast start for him.
1st Quarter (8:22): Ed Davis with a nice slam on a great play by the Lakers.
1st Quarter (9:11): Perhaps the Thunder showing some fatigue early in this game?
1st Quarter (9:25): Actually slow start for both teams.
1st Quarter (10:20): Slow start for the Thunder.
1st Quarter (11:16): Ronnie Price gets the Lakers started with a jumper.
1st Quarter (12:00): This game is underway.
So the Spurs/Blazers game does go to overtime, so this game will begin a little later.
This game will begin soon as the Spurs and Blazers finish their game. At this moment, the Spurs lead by two with five seconds left, Blazers ball. If it goes to overtime, this game may start later.
No Durant, so that means the Lakers main concern will be Westbrook, who will look to dominate on offense.
Perry Jones is expected to start in place of Durant.
Kevin Durant is seen walking with a limp at the STAPLES Center.
Kevin Durant will not play tonight. The Thunder is being cautious which they should.
Kevin Durant is currently considered a game-time decision.
The Lakers come in with a 3-9 home record and are the worst defensive team at home, allowing opponents to score 109.5 points. The Thunder, meanwhile, come in with a 5-9 road record. The Thunder defense is the best in the league on the road, as they only allow 94.7 points. This is indeed going to be a very tough matchup for the Lakers even if Durant does not play.
Jordan Hill missed the Lakers practice due to an illness, but he is expected to play in this one. However, he may see limited minutes, which is unfortunate because the Lakers need all the size they have in this game. The Thunder is just longer and more athletic than the Lakers, so L.A. needs their bigs, especially Hill who is one of the best offensive rebounders in the league.
The Thunder is a desperate team since they are fighting for a playoff position after a slow start to the season due to injuries to their star players. The Thunder is currently a game and a half out of the eighth and final seed in the Western Conference. They stand in 10th place right behind the Phoenix Suns.
The Lakers have lost the last six out of eight times against the Thunder. The last time the Lakers won was when Jodie Meeks scored a career-high 42 points on the Thunder. However, Russell Westbrook has always been a matchup nightmare for the Lakers, who don't have anyone as quick, strong, and athletic as Westbrook.
During the Lakers' road trip, Kobe Bryant passed Michael Jordan on the all-time scoring list. He is finally back home where the Lakers are likely to honor him for his huge accomplishment. Kobe now ranks third on the scoring list with 32,331 total points.
"They jumped out to a quick lead on us and we just compounded it that we couldn't throw the ball in the ocean sitting on a boat," Kobe Bryant said after the team's terrible loss in Indiana. "We didn't have our legs at the start of the game. We just could not get ourselves activated."
The Lakers, meanwhile, after winning three straight games, two coming on the road with one being against the San Antonio Spurs, got hammered in their last game against the struggling Indiana Pacers. The Lakers came out that night with zero energy, as they looked fatigued due to playing in the second of a back-to-back. However, they should be well rested going into this game, as they have been off since Monday night.
The Thunder had a seven game winning streak that was snapped Thursday night in Golden State. They have been sharp since the return of their superstars, as they have pulled within a game and a half of the eighth seed in the West. It is important for them to take care of inferior teams like the Los Angeles Lakers, but the Thunder still have a good chance of grabbing a win in Los Angeles despite Durant sitting out. Therefore, the Thunder could just give Durant the night off.
At this point, the Thunder is listing Durant as questionable for Friday night's game against the Lakers. His X-Rays came back negative which is a good sign. When asked about his availability for this game, Durant responded, "Hopefully tomorrow I can go." However, Scott Brooks may use precaution since Durant only recently returned from a Jones fracture in his foot.
The Thunder are coming off a loss against the Golden State Warriors on the road. In a game where the Thunder lost Kevin Durant for the second half, they hung in close thanks to Russell Westbrook's 33 points. The Thunder looked sharp to start that game, as Durant was on fire from the field, draining three 3's and going off for 16 points in the first quarter and a total of 30 at the end of the first half. Unfortunately, Durant suffered a mild ankle sprain in the closing seconds of the first half, which ended his night.
Welcome to the VAVEL_USA's Live of the Oklahoma City Thunder vs Los Angeles Lakers from Downtown, Los Angeles, where the 12-14 Thunder will look to improve on their record against the 8-17 Lakers.