That's More Like It: Thunder Clobbers Hapless Lakers

The Thunder ran up the score on Los Angeles on Thursday night.

Thursday, March 13th 2014, 11:57 pm

By: News 9


Thunder players and coaches weren't pleased with last Sunday's loss in Los Angeles. So, they did something about it.  

Every player on the Thunder roster scored as Oklahoma City cruised to an easy 131-102 win against the downtrodden Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night.

This one was over after 10 seconds. Right off the opening tip, Russell Westbrook stole the ball and streaked down the floor for an uncontested tomahawk jam.  He then let out a scream and with it, made it very clear that the Thunder wasn't here to mess around.  

Oklahoma City exploded out of the gate and took a 33-19 lead after one, finishing the period on a 16-5 run.  Westbrook's 11 points led the way, while Durant added nine.

The two teams each scored 27 in the second and the Thunder took a 60-46 lead into halftime.

OKC led 74-60 with 6:37 to play in the third, when Westbrook decided it was time to start his long-range target practice.  Westbrook nailed a 3 to put the Thunder up 17, and was fouled on a 3 on the next trip down. He hit all three free throws to put OKC up 20, but he wasn't done yet.  

The very next trip down, Russ banked home a 3-ball from the right wing, a shot he laughed about throughout the ensuing timeout. After the break, he came back and…guess what…nailed another 3.  Westbrook's personal 12-0 run put the Thunder up 86-62 and effectively ended any dreams the Lakers had about coming back. 

"Russell…he was hot," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. "He made shots. Then he made the 3-point bank shot, and he got fouled on one 3-point shot.  It was almost like heat-checks."

Westbrook and Durant each finished with 29 points. Westbrook added nine assists while Durant shot 11-11 from the free-throw line.  It marked the 30th consecutive game in which Durant scored 25+ points.

Serge Ibaka also dominated on both ends for the Thunder, collecting 13 rebounds and seven blocks to go with his 15 points.  Caron Butler added 11 points and six boards off the Lakers' bench, while Reggie Jackson chipped in eight points, eight rebounds and six assists. 

Jeremy Lamb played just seven minutes, scoring two points and dishing out three assists.

"Right now, he just has to be ready to play," Brooks said of Lamb.  "We have a lot of good players. Sacrifices have to be made all throughout the team. And right now, he's not playing as many minutes as he has in the past, but he's a player that we love and we're going to keep working with, and he just has to stay ready. There's opportunities down the road and he has to continue to do what he's done all year and step in and be ready when he's called upon."

The Thunder brought a much different energy level than it did on Sunday. OKC outrebounded the Lakers 60-37 and blocked 11 Laker shots.  

"Out disposition has been different in the last two games after coming out flat in Los Angeles," Butler explained.  "(We were) Regrouping and watching a lot of film. Moving forward, if you wanna be a contender in this league on a night-to-night basis you have to start on the defensive end and we did a better job of that tonight."

Jodie Meeks led Los Angeles with 19 points, but shot just 6-15. Kent Bazemore added 16 off the LA bench. The Thunder's defense was much-improved from Sunday when Meeks lit up OKC for a career-high 42 points. But Westbrook said that despite that performance, Meeks wasn't a concern. 

"He just happened to get lucky the first time," Westbrook said. "We ain't worried about what Jodie Meeks does."

In other news, Andre Roberson earned the start for OKC.  He scored eight points and grabbed seven rebounds in just 24 minutes, while also providing great defensive energy.

Westbrook was impressed by the rookie's performance.

"Dre does a great job of cutting, he's a great cutter and a great rebounder," Westbrook said of Roberson. "His basketball IQ is high. He does a great job of reading me and as long as he continues to do that it's gonna be easy buckets for him."

The Thunder (48-17) is back at it against the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday night.  

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