Geoff JohnsonAfter beating the Denver Nuggets in an amazing game 7, the Los Angeles Lakers will try to take
their momentum to Oklahoma City where they will face the Thunder at Chesapeake Energy
Arena at 9:30 PM ET.
OKC is seven point favorites over the Lakers despite they hadn’t played since Saturday of
last week when they wrapped up the series 4-0 against the defending champions, Dallas
Mavericks. “It’s the playoffs,” Kevin Durant said. “No matter how it gets done, you’ve got to do
it.”
The Lakers used all seven games to beat the Denver, and finally got it done on Saturday with a 96-
87 win. Pau Gasol had a huge night with 23 points, 17 rebounds, six assists and four blocked
shots; shutting down every critic.
“We were aggressive,” Gasol said. “We attacked the paint better. We pounded the boards as
hard as we could, every single time. … Our backs against the wall also had something to do
with it.”
Metta World Peace had a nice defensive game; his first since he hit James Harden with the
elbow in a regular season game. “He made plays tonight that won’t show up in the stat
sheet that were absolutely amazing for us defensively,” said Mike Brown, who shrugged off
Magic Johnson’s pregame pronouncement that the first-year coach’s job would be in jeopardy
with a loss. “Just his presence alone helped us out, and that’s what we missed the first six
games. … He was monstrous for us tonight.”
OKC is with San Antonio, the two best teams in the west, but the Lakers have something to
prove. Take OKC to win the game but Los Angeles to cover the seven points.
