Thunder Thumping: OKC Gets To 20 Wins After Drilling Lakers

On Wednesday night in the Staples Center, the damage was done nearly entirely by a Thunder starting lineup that’s really starting to click, despite the struggles of its backups. A hesitant Durant copped to the exchange during his postgame media availability with reporters. “Man, I wanted to play so bad tonight, and I came this close”, he said, holding two fingers close together. I’m sure they would love nothing more than to try to beat us by 40.

It initially appeared Bryant and Durant would offer a compelling matchup. Bryant autographed one of the sneakers and added an inscription: “To KD: Be the greatest”.

Bryant, who announced on November 29 that he will retire at the end of the season, has played in the most Christmas Day games and holds the NBA’s Christmas Day scoring record with 383 points – that’s six more than the runner- up, Hall of Fame guard Oscar Robertson.

This season, Bryant has averaged 17.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game.

On the other hand, the Lakers are dead last with a 5-24 record and are clearly out of contention for the playoffs or to even climb the rankings. Bryant sat out the first meeting between the teams, a 118-78 Thunder victory, on Saturday. Durant and Westbrook will be two of the big fish in the next two free agency periods, and the Lakers will likely push hard to sign each of them. Olajuwon, in his best game against a Laker team with Kobe on it, contributed 31 points, seven rebounds, four blocks and just one turnover (Barkley had seven) in 32 minutes. On the next possession, Bryant launched a contested 26-foot 3-pointer over Durant that hit the net. (Getty Images)You can read whatever you want to when it comes to Kobe Bryant compiling a list of his toughest opponents. Bryant is leading every player with 719,235 votes so far. “I forgot how long he was”. Westbrook scored seven quick points, getting to the rim for three layups, including a foul on one of them. “That’s the type of stuff that I’ll miss – the competition That’s the fun stuff”.

Derrick Favors had 17 points and 9 rebounds for the Jazz, who have lost 5 of 7.

Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant have been two of the greatest players of their respective generations.

Simply including a player’s first and last name or handle with #NBAVote counts as a vote, and voters can submit a maximum of 1 player name per Tweet and a maximum of 10 valid votes per Twitter handle per day. The Clippers will wear a red jersey with white lettering and red shorts.