The Lakers handled the Thunder very well in Game 5, winning 111-87. Kobe Bryant only had 13 points and 7 assists, but he controlled the game in other ways.
Bryant took it upon himself to guard Russell Westbrook, who had 15 points as opposed to his series average of 21 points. He also had 8 turnovers.
Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 26 points on a dreadful 5 for 23 shooting night. Westbrook had 21 points and nine assists. The two combined to score every point in the rally that put Oklahoma City up 94-91 but then couldn't close out the game.
"I'm a competitor. I want to win every game I play," Durant said. "I want to be a champion, and stuff like this hurts. I work so hard, we work so hard as a group, that I think that every time we step on the floor we should win."
Gasol had nine points and 18 rebounds for the lakers.
"It was tough to get a bucket because both defenses were just playing super hard and giving it all out there," said Gasol, who was scoreless in the second half before the tip-in. "The last shot, I kept battling, kept hustling. I didn't have a good second half, I didn't have my best shooting night but I continued to work and continued to be effective rebounding and just keeping balls alive.
"Luckily, I pursued that ball and put it in and we won the ballgame."
Famar had 14 points as Odom had an all-around game with 7 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks.
With less than 40 hours after finishing off the Thunder, the Lakers were due to start the second round back at home.
"We'll be ready," Bryant said.
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The league announced that Kobe Bryant's No. 24 jersey is the top seller in the NBA again. The Lakers star has topped the ranking since the start of the 2008-09 season and also leads sales in Europe and China.
The Lakers were the top team in NBA merchandise sales, as has been the case in seven of the past eight seasons. The list is based on sales at the NBA Store and nbastore.com since the start of the season. Sales were up a combined 20 percent over last season.
Here is the top 5 jersey sellers in the NBA:
Leave it to Kobe Bryant to dominate the court in game 5 against the Oklahoma Thunder tuesday night at the Staples Center.
“I was just aggressive,” Bryant said. “Just getting in the paint, making them make decisions. When I do that, I collapse the defense so they just have to make a choice.”
"Considering how inconsistently we've been playing, and the last game in Oklahoma, this was one of our better [games of the season]," said Bryant, who had 13 points and seven assists.
Kobe's best work was utilizing his aggressive defensive skills to slow Westbrook, limiting Oklahoma's star point guard to only 15 points.
"I enjoy a challenge, and he's been playing sensational," Bryant said. "If we're going to be eliminated, I don't want to go into the summer thinking I could have done something about it, so I accepted the challenge."
Bryant’s statistical line – 13 points, seven assists, three boards, two steals in 29 minutes
Kobe was not the only starter to be working their skills, Pau Gasol had 25 points and 11 rebounds, Andrew Bynum added 21 points.
“We shot the ball well and were aggressive,” said Gasol. “I think we made ourselves a big presence in the lane and were effective.”
With the victory, the Lakers have chance at closing out the First Round series in what will be a tough game amongst the Oklahoma City fans Friday night in game 6.
The Thunder evened the first-round series against the Los Angeles Lakers with a 110-89 victory in Game 4 on Saturday night.
For the second time in this series, the Thunder utilized the foul line and on the boards even with the defense of the Lakers' 7-foot tandem of Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum.
Bynum had 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Gasol also had 13 points. Kobe Bryant had 12 points while spending the first quarter deferring to his teammates and the fourth quarter on the bench.
"I was managing the game exactly how I wanted to. Unfortunately, it got away from us," Bryant said. "By them getting out in transition and getting those buckets, I wasn't able to do what I normally do at the end of the game and close games out."
"Our expectation is we wanted to win both of these games and be done with it. I think that's every team's mindset coming on the road being up 2-0," Bryant said. "It's not the reality of the situation. We've got a tough fight, and it should be fun."
Andrew Bynum was the only Lakers starter to play in the fourth, as Bryant, Gasol, Derek Fisher and Ron Artest stayed stayed to rest on the sidelines.
Oklahoma City is the youngest team in the league, who thought they would make it this far in the first place? They only won 23 games last season. Now, they're guaranteed at least the chance to extend their season until Game 6 on Friday night back on their home court -- and maybe beyond.
Game 5 is Tuesday night in Los Angeles.
April 30, 2010
