LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles Lakers coach Darvin Ham praised his side’s dominant defensive display as D’Angelo Russell scored 26 points en route to upsetting the Oklahoma City Thunder 116-104 on March 4.
Russell and Anthony Davis combined for 50 points while LeBron James added 19 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists in a comfortable home win for the 17-time National Basketball Association (NBA) champions.
Oklahoma City went into the game as leaders of the Western Conference and they started smoothly, opening up a 12-point lead early in the first quarter.
But some stubborn defending and Russell’s hot hand hauled the Lakers back into contention.
And a big second quarter – outscoring the Thunder 27-18 – gave them a lead they held for the remainder of the contest.
“Early on they made some shots and we turned the ball over, but we didn’t totally collapse,” Ham said.
“We continued to defend. I told the team at half-time: ‘That’s the best defensive half I’ve seen all season’. Kudos to our guys – they stepped up and defended really, really well.”
The Lakers defence restricted Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to 20 points, while Chet Holmgren finished with 15 and Josh Giddey 13.
The defeat knocked Oklahoma City (42-19) off the top spot in the West, with the Minnesota Timberwolves (43-19) taking over first place after their 119-114 win over the Portland Trail Blazers in Minneapolis.
The Lakers improved to 34-29 to sit in ninth.
Elsewhere, Damian Lillard produced a dazzling 41-point display as the Milwaukee Bucks shrugged off the injury absence of Giannis Antetokounmpo to defeat the Los Angeles Clippers 113-106 at home.
With Antetokounmpo ruled out just before tip-off with a sore Achilles, and Khris Middleton also out injured, Lillard led from the front to help in-form Milwaukee claim a sixth straight victory.
The Clippers opened up a 15-point lead in the third quarter.
But Lillard and Bobby Portis – who had 28 points and 16 rebounds – caught fire in the fourth as the Bucks outscored the Clippers 40-25 to pull clear and seal the win before a fired-up Milwaukee crowd.
The Bucks improved to 41-21, leaving them second in the Eastern Conference behind the Boston Celtics (48-12).
Bucks coach Doc Rivers had accused some members of his team of being in holiday-mode prior to February’s All-Star Game.
But Lillard revealed the Bucks were now reaping the benefits from a clear-the-air meeting.
“Coming out of the break we had a big talk as a team,” said the guard, who was named All-Star Game Most Valuable Player.
“Doc addressed a lot of things, challenged us to do some things differently – and I think we embraced it as a team.” AFP
