For a quick span in the second quarter, Kobe Bryant looked like the MVP of old, hitting everything from a baseline fadeaway to a jumper while being fouled by Russell Westbrook. That surge turned an early 15-point deficit into a three-point lead, but it proved to be fool’s gold for the Lakers.
Oklahoma City (20-9) ended the half on a 14-2 run and then opened up the next quarter by rolling off 22 unanswered points in its 120-85 romp over the purple and gold Wednesday night.
“(The Thunder’s) intensity was at a different level,” head coach Byron Scott said four days after his team lost by 40 in Oklahoma City.