Fast Break NBA News: NBA Playoffs 2010 : Oklahoma City Thunder 92 @ 95 L.A. Lakers (0

Kobe takes over late to give Lakers 2-0 series advantage

By Bryan Chu, for NBA.com

With the Lakers trailing in final two minutes, Kobe Bryant did what he did best -- take over the game.

Bryant scored seven of the team's final nine points as the Lakers narrowly took Game 2 over the Thunder 95-92 Tuesday at Staples Center to grab a decisive 2-0 series advantage.

After struggling for the past month with a battery of injuries, Bryant answered back to those who doubted his game, scoring 15 of his game-high 39 in the final period.

"After 13 years," smirked Bryant, "you think they'd know better."

The Lakers have won eight straight over the Thunder at Staples Center. More importantly, however, is holding court. When the Lakers take Game 1 and 2 of a best-of-seven series they are nearly unbeatable, posting a 39-1 record.

Oklahoma City could have easily left Los Angeles with a split, however.

The Thunder held an 88-86 advantage with 2:49 left in the game, but then Bryant put the defending champs ahead 93-88 with 1:18 left in the game.

But a pair of free throws by Russell Westbrook and flip shot by Jeff Green cut Los Angeles' lead to 94-92 with 15.1 seconds remaining in the game. Kevin Durant fired an off-balanced 3-pointer on the next possession, but his shot went wide right. Pau Gasol split a pair and the Thunder had one final shot with 7.7 seconds left, but Green's 3-pointer was long.

"I'm getting the looks I want, they're just not falling," said Green, who finished just 2-for-11 shooting and 1-for-6 from 3-point range after going 4-for-12 the previous game. "But I'm still confident in my shot and I'm going to continue to shoot them and they're going to drop when I go home."

During Bryant's run, Durant struggled.

He was hounded by Ron Artest all game. And in the final minutes, Pau Gasol drew a charge on Durant and then helped Artest cause a Durant turnover.

Durant finished with 32 points on 12-for-26 shooting, but recorded a eight turnovers, which tied a career high.

Nevertheless, playing the defending champs this closely gives the Thunder confidence heading home.

"Our energy on the defensive end was phenomenal," said Durant, whose team recorded 17 blocks and held the Lakers to 37.5 percent shooting in Game 2 and 41 percent shooting in Game 1. "We just have to correct the offensive."

Game 3 will be in Oklahoma City on Thursday and will be no easy task.

"That place is going to be rocking and rolling," Bryant said. "These young guys play with a lot of energy here so multiply that by 10. The last time [a 91-75 loss] we were up there they did a number on us. We are well aware of what they are capable of and how explosive they are. It's going to be exciting."

For the first time in more than a month, Bryant seemed to have control of his jumper and was aggressive for much of the game. His first shot, a 21-footer from the left wing, was nothing but net. His stepback fallaway -- a shot that has abandoned him for the last few games -- was dialed in.

He ended shooting a pedestrian 12-for-28 from the field, but that's far better than the 30.3 percent clip he had been shooting in the month of April. He also found his rhythm at line making 13-for-15.

"You expect him to make big shots," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. "Unfortunately he did again tonight."

The Lakers trailed did trail at halftime. But Gasol came alive in the third period. After scoring 10 points in the first half, Gasol recorded 11 in the third period. He finished the game with 25 points on 8-for-14 shooting and snagged 12 rebounds.

After a stellar Game 1, Andrew Bynum didn't have the same impact. He had six points on 3-for-9 shooting and 10 rebounds in 31 minutes of play. Other role players like Derek Fisher (five points, 2-for-10) and Artest (five points, 2-for-10) also had little impact offensively, but their play defensive was stellar.

Fisher was responsible for Russell Westbrook's foul trouble and Artest shut down Durant down the stretch.

Plagued with foul trouble all game, Westbrook finished with 19 points on 5-for-10 shooting in 29 minutes.

Fisher drew three of Westbrook's early fouls with his cagy veteran experience and aggressiveness. Westbrook, who played a total of 10 minutes in the first half, picked up an early reach-in and then an offensive foul. His second personal was at the 5:35 mark and the Lakers finished the quarter outscoring the Thunder 15-5 to go up 26-18 at the end of the first quarter.

Though he didn't hold Durant to another 7-for-24 performance, Artest did make life tough for the NBA's leading scorer.

"Ron has done a great job," Lamar Odom said. "He's made [Durant] take tough shots."

Oklahoma City Thunder (50-32)
field goalsrebounds
	pos	min	fgm-a	3pm-a	ftm-a	+/-	off	def	tot	ast	pf	st	to	bs	ba	pts
J. Green	F	41:08	2-11	1-6	7-7	-2	0	4	4	2	4	1	1	0	0	12
K. Durant	F	40:30	12-26	3-6	5-6	0	2	6	8	1	3	2	8	4	1	32
N. Krstic	C	25:19	4-7	0-0	2-2	-4	2	3	5	1	5	0	0	2	0	10
T. Sefolosha	G	29:33	2-7	0-3	3-4	+2	1	3	4	3	4	3	0	1	2	7
R. Westbrook	G	29:07	5-10	1-1	8-8	-2	1	5	6	3	4	1	3	1	0	19
E. Maynor		18:54	1-3	0-1	2-2	-1	0	2	2	2	1	1	2	1	0	4
N. Collison		18:00	1-3	0-1	0-2	-8	0	2	2	0	6	0	0	1	0	2
S. Ibaka		27:53	2-5	0-0	2-2	+6	1	4	5	0	3	1	3	7	0	6
J. Harden		09:36	0-2	0-1	0-0	-6	0	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
K. Ollie	DNP - Coach's Decision
E. Thomas	DNP - Coach's Decision
D. White	DNP - Coach's Decision
Total		240	29-74	5-19	29-33		7	30	37	13	30	9	17	17	3	92
			39.2%	26.3%	87.9%		team rebs: 9			total to: 17

Los Angeles Lakers (57-25)
field goalsrebounds
	pos	min	fgm-a	3pm-a	ftm-a	+/-	off	def	tot	ast	pf	st	to	bs	ba	pts
R. Artest	F	40:31	2-10	1-6	0-0	0	2	2	4	4	2	4	2	2	1	5
P. Gasol	F-C	36:25	8-14	0-0	9-13	+5	5	7	12	2	2	0	3	0	3	25
A. Bynum	C	31:55	3-9	0-0	0-2	+7	5	5	10	1	2	1	2	1	3	6
K. Bryant	G	40:55	12-28	2-5	13-15	-2	1	4	5	1	4	2	4	0	5	39
D. Fisher	G	32:25	2-10	1-5	0-0	-12	1	3	4	6	6	0	3	0	1	5
J. Farmar		12:46	2-4	1-3	0-0	+10	0	4	4	1	2	0	1	0	1	5
L. Odom		26:08	2-9	0-1	0-0	-1	4	4	8	3	4	2	1	0	2	4
S. Brown		12:08	2-4	1-2	1-2	+11	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	6
L. Walton		05:15	0-0	0-0	0-0	+2	0	1	1	2	3	0	0	0	0	0
J. Powell		01:32	0-0	0-0	0-0	-5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
D. Mbenga	DNP - Coach's Decision
A. Morrison	DNP - Coach's Decision
Total		240	33-88	6-22	23-32		19	30	49	20	26	9	16	3	17	95
			37.5%	27.3%	71.9%		team rebs: 18			total to: 16