Lakers are out

The Oklahoma City Thunder closed out the series at home tonight at Chesapeake Arena with a 106-90 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. The Thunder now advance to the NBA Western Conference Finals against the San Antonio Spurs this weekend after winning this best of seven series 4-1.

Even though the final score was a blowout, the game was pretty close for the first three quarters. The turning point of the game was during the third quarter with 4:09 remaining. With the game tied at 70, Thunder PG Russell Westbrook stole the ball and was on his way for a breakaway dunk. Lakers PG Ramon Sessions fouled Westbrook by the free throw line, but Westbrook was alert enough to flip the ball off of the glass into the basket to give the Thunder the lead that they never relinquished.

With the season on the line, Lakers coach Mike Brown decided to sit Kobe Bryant at the start of the 4th quarter even though Bryant already had 34 points and the Lakers were down 83-77. The Thunder scored the first ten points of the quarter to put the game away.

The Thunder were led by Westbrook, who scored 28 points. Kevin Durant also had another huge night with 25 points and 10 rebounds.

Although the Lakers lost, Bryant had a stellar night. He scored the most points in a playoff game so far with 42 points. However, the rest of the team didn't show up as he scored almost half of the Lakers points.

Source: NBA.com