Lakers pull away in fourth quarter for victory over Thunder

Kobe Bryant leads another stellar team effort with 21 points, 14 assists and nine rebounds in the 105-96 win that knocks Oklahoma City out of the NBA's top spot.

Dwight Howard missed six consecutive free throws for the Lakers, who made seven of 16 (43.8%) overall from the line.

Kobe Bryant looked on pace for a triple-double with six points, six assists and seven rebounds.

Lakers 27, Thunder 23 (end of first quarter)

The Lakers finished a strong first quarter of basketball with a four-point lead over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Antawn Jamison hit three free throws with 1.9 seconds left in the quarter to give the Lakers their biggest lead of the game. Serge Ibaka got up gingerly after fouling Jamison, favoring what looked like his hip.

The Lakers shot 45.5% from the field with seven players scoring, led by Metta World Peace, Earl Clark and Steve Nash with five points apiece.

The Thunder hit only 38.5%, led by Kevin Durant's seven points.

Oklahoma City had seven offensive rebounds to the Lakers' five, giving them four more shot attempts in the quarter.

Pregame

The Lakers (18-25) host the Oklahoma City Thunder (34-10) on Sunday afternoon at Staples Center.

The Thunder have the best record in the NBA. The Lakers finally ended a four-game losing streak with a victory on Friday over the Utah Jazz.

It would be a huge win for the Lakers but a difficult one to get against Oklahoma City.

For a more in-depth breakdown, check out Preview: Lakers at Thunder.

ALSO:

Even in victory, Lakers struggling with turnovers and free throws

Lakers' teammates prefer Kobe Bryant as a willing passer

Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash receive Italian national team jerseys

Email Eric Pincus at eric.pincus@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @EricPincus.

Comments (38)

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Dangerous_Dave at 5:47 PM January 28, 2013

Obviously it's far too early to say that the Lakers have turned a corner based on this. I'm not entirely sure I trust that Kobe will continue to play smart basketball like this and the shothog tendencies won't come back.

I think it's borderline criminal that Howard has allowed himself to have such a terrible free throw action. There has been a funny thing amongst (US) centers which could be summarised by the phrase "too big to shoot free throws" . They seem to think that any truly enormous person would not be able to shoot free throws due to having too big hands or whatever (e.g. Shaq), so therefore not shooting free throws has become a signiture of being a massive and dominant center. Now even the modest sized ones like Howard have decided that projecting the image of hugeness requires not shooting free throws. But the truth is that if Yao Ming can do it, anybody can (and should) do it.

jumpnthruhoops at 10:12 AM January 28, 2013

Balance is the key to their survival. Great to finally see it happening, too bad it took them 40 games to figure it out.

LakerFan4Life1 at 7:49 AM January 28, 2013

I love the unselfish play by Kobe! I believe these past two games have proved that Kobe is more concerned about winning than he is with personal stats. The Lakers have finally found their greatest strength - finding the open man. This team has soooo much talent on the floor that, almost always, someone is being double or even triple teamed. The ball can move much quicker than even the best defensive team can adjust. Playing the half court game, as they have been, is the only way this Laker squad will find success. Not to be a buzz-kill here, but the Lakers still have to rebound more, especially offensively, and they still need to work on defense. I'm curious as to whether this recent change is a sole product of Kobe, or at least partially coach D's? I still don't believe coach D is the right fit for this squad, but if he is part of this recent change in philosophy, than let's give him a chance.

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