(Sports Network) - The Oklahoma City Thunder can become the latest team to add
to the Los Angeles Lakers' misery when the two square off on Friday at Staples
Center.
Los Angeles, of course, will be without center Dwight Howard, who is nursing a
shoulder injury, as well as forward Jordan Hill, who is out with a hip
ailment. However, the team hasn't officially ruled out forward Pau Gasol from
returning from a concussion.
The Lakers could have used that trio on Wednesday when they lost their fifth
straight game, falling 108-105 to San Antonio.
Kobe Bryant ended with 27 points for the Lakers. Metta World Peace added 23
points, eight rebounds and seven steals, while Earl Clark had 22 points and 13
boards in a losing cause.
"We have lost five games in a row, it is pretty self explanatory," Bryant
said. "We played very hard and I think we figured a few things out. We still
have to straighten some things out on the defensive end but I feel like we
competed and that was very important."
Los Angeles, which last dropped six in a row during a seven-game slide March
2-15, 2007, will be starting a four-game stretch at home where they are 10-8
on the year.
Oklahoma City, meanwhile, bounced back from an embarrassing loss to Washington
to beat the short-handed Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday. Kevin Durant
scored 26 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the 106-84 win.
Russell Westbrook accumulated 23 points, eight rebounds and seven assists,
while Kevin Martin contributed 19 points off the bench to the rout.
Oklahoma City shot 55.3 percent in the second half to pull away while making
11-of-20 attempts from 3-point range for the game, with Martin going 4-of-7
from long distance and Westbrook knocking down 3-of-4 tries from beyond the
arc.
"I thought our defense was good throughout the game," Thunder head coach Scott
Brooks said. "We started out with solid defensive execution, and in the second
half our offense caught up with it."
The Thunder beat Los Angeles earlier in the year, but the Lakers were without
Steve Nash. Oklahoma took two of three from the Lakers last season before
beating them in five games in last year's Western Conference semifinals.
The Sports Network