Lakers Couldn’t Save Themselves

The Lakers went down to the wire for the second time in 24 hours as they battled OKC down to the final possession.

This time, Lou Williams had a monster game as he went for a career high 44 points, 23 of which came in the critical fourth quarter where the Lakers had the lead multiple times.

The former sixth man of the year ignited the Lakers 19-5 run that erased the Thunder’s double-digit lead.

Jordan Clarkson had 17 points on the night with several shots coming during the fourth quarter run.

Unfortunately, Russell Westbrook had an explosive night as he went off for 36 points and kept the Thunder from falling behind.

The Lakers went cold as the dynamic guard heated up, missing seven shots down the stretch.

In the final minute, Westbrook missed a critical free-throw that made it a two point game with the final possession going to the Lakers.

On the final play, it was Kobe Bryant who made the final drive to the basket.  Despite his persistence, he was too well defended by Kevin Durant.

The shot fell short of the mark and the game was over when the Thunder came up with the rebound.

The loss overshadowed Williams’ career night.  Besides leading both teams in points, he was also a perfect 15-15 from the free-throw line.

Bryant had another double-digit night as he finished with 19 points.  Bryant played the better part of the fourth quarter as D’Angelo Russell played only eight minutes after having sprained his ankle at the end of the previous game against the Kings.

For the Thunder, Durant had 24 points behind Westbrook.  Center Enes Kanter had 15 points off the bench while Steven Adams had 10 to round out the stat sheet.

The victory caps off a big week for Russell Westbrook who was honored by his alma mater UCLA with the renaming of their practice facility after him.

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Westbrook and the Thunder were on-hand the previous night where the Bruins alum led the traditional eight clap and witnessed their upset victory over ranked contender Arizona.

Without Russell, LA coach Byron Scott was forced to make adjustments that affected his young players.  Julius Randle finished the night with only two points.  Larry Nance Jr. had 9 while not playing in the critical fourth quarter stretch.

Despite the loss, the Lakers have shown great improvement in this recent back-to-back.  Recent criticism of the squad has been their lack of effort in critical moments.  I

n both games, the Lakers young core battled back to cut fourth quarter deficits and give themselves a fighting chance down the stretch.

After being blown out by the Warriors earlier in the week, the young squad is finally showing the resiliency that has been lacking in games throughout the season.

Next: D'Angelo Russell Starting To Shine

The Lakers now have a night off and will hopefully have Russell back in action for Sundays game against the Utah Jazz.