The Oklahoma City Thunder are playing for the Western Conference Championship for the second year in a row. What seemed like a close game in the third quarter turned into a routing in the fourth as the Thunder defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 106-90.
The consistent play from their young stars, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant, helped OKC pull away early in the fourth quarter. Westbrook ignited the crowd with a circus 15 foot layup as he was fouled by Ramon Session. After a made free throw, the Thunder were up 80-73 with 1:29 left in the third quarter. After a Kobe Bryant three pointer, the Lakers were only down by four and that was the closest they ever got.
In a press conference after the game, Kobe described the Thunder as being "explosive." That accurately describes what happened in the fourth quarter. Two minutes into the fourth quarter the Lakers were down by 16 points as OKC opened up the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run.
From then on you could sense that the series was over as the Lakers could not regroup and score points, play defense or rebound. Andrew Bynum is a great player but he looked lost on the court as he became irrelevant in the second half.
This could be due to what Kobe described as a role reversal from the last time both teams faced each other in 2009. After Mike Brown became coach, the Lakers had to learn a new system of defense and offense. Bryant said in the postgame conference that the lakers were still adjusting and learning new things in the playoffs.
On the other hand, the Oklahoma City Thunder have been playing together under the same system for a few years. They have grown and continue growing together. They showed this throughout the series. While the Lakers were scrambling for open shots as time ticked away, Durant and Westbrook were always able to come up with big plays that led to big buckets.
With the talent on the Thunders' basketball team, this could ultimately mean they are crowned champions.
The series between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs begins Sunday at 8:30PM eastern time. The Thunder will face a scorching hot Spurs team that has yet to lose in the playoffs. The Thunder will look to an end to that streak.
