| April 20 - Staples Center, Los Angeles. The Lakers didn't get intimidated by the 17 blocks they received and managed to get a win 95-92 over the Thunder to take a 2-0 control of the first-round series. Despite playing with a broken finger, a sore knee and a bad ankle, Kobe Bryant made his first significant contribution in this 2010 playoffs, being aggressive offensively from the beginning and later scoring 15 of his 39 points in the fourth quarter. He made 12 of 28 shots and 13 of 15 free-throw attempts. Pau Gasol also had a big game and was the only other Lakers players in double digit scoring ending with 25 points and 10 rebounds. His contribution being not only important on the numbers but on his leadership and in the way he coordinates on offense with Kobe. Kevin Durant, the youngest scoring leader ever got 32 points showing some of his excellent scoring skills but that number don't show how much his was bothered by Ron Artest defense. KD also added 8 rebounds and 4 blocks. Russell Westbrook, the Thunder's second scoring weapon got into early foul trouble which limited his minutes on the floor. He had 19 points and 6 rebounds. Once again the Lakers dominated the first quarter, but this time the Thunder recovered fast in the second and sustained basically by their defense went to halftime leading 47-45. They had 9 of their 17 blocks in the first half. Serge Ibaka was who showed the way in that category and ended with 7 blocked shots. It was a close game until the end with a lot of mistakes, turnovers and some hard fouls. The Lakers led most of the time but the Oklahoma was up three times in the fourth quarter and to make things more dramatic Kobe missed one of his free throws with 15 seconds left to leave the door open for the thunder with the L.A. up by two, 94-92. Durant missed a 3-pointer, and Gasol also missed one from the free throw line to give the Thunder a final chance to tie it. But everybody went after Durant and Jeff Green had no alternative but to take the final 3-point attempt and missed. |
