Lakers Eliminated In 2012 NBA Playoffs By OKC Thunder

Better luck next time Kobe…if there is a next time.

With the Oklahoma City Thunder just starting to come to life, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant didn’t need to take a break. They will have enough time to rest as they get ready for a second straight trip to the Western Conference finals. Westbrook scored 28 points, Durant added 25 points and 10 rebounds, and the two All-Stars skipped their usual rest periods to power the Thunder ahead in the second half for a 106-90 win over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 5 of the West semifinals on Monday night.

“We know that’s the most important time of the game, especially in a tight game,” Durant said. “I think that we kept our composure throughout the fourth, and our poise and we made plays.” Kobe Bryant scored 42 points for the Lakers and took the briefest of rest – less than 2 minutes – in the second half. It didn’t even take that long for the game, and their season, to slip away.

After Westbrook’s pair of three-point plays fueled a 14-3 burst that put Oklahoma City ahead to stay late in the third quarter, Durant hit two 3-pointers as the Thunder scored the first 10 points of the fourth to push their lead to 93-77. Bryant was waiting to check in when Durant connected on his second 3-pointer, just 89 seconds into the fourth quarter. But by the time he got in, there was little he could do – despite the 13th 40-point game of his playoff career.

“That what we do. That’s our rotations and that’s the right rotation to make,” Bryant said. “You have to trust that unit coming in there to hold the fort down.” Lakers coach Mike Brown said he trusted that unit – including starters Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum – after it had turned a five-point deficit into a lead to start the second quarter.

“I’ve got to be able to rest Kobe a few minutes here and there, and we didn’t do a good job of handling it at that point in the game,” Brown said, adding that he didn’t keep Bryant out as long as he had planned. After blowing a fourth-quarter lead in Game 4, Bryant had called out forward Pau Gasol to be more aggressive – much as he had with Gasol and Bynum before the Lakers faced elimination in Game 7 of the first round against Denver.

Gasol came through with a monster game – 23 points, 17 rebounds and six assists – and Steve Blake scored a playoff career-best 19 points to save the Lakers that time. Bryant didn’t get nearly as much help against the Thunder. Gasol took 14 shots, his most of the series, but made only five to finish with 14 points and 16 rebounds. Metta World Peace scored 11 and Bynum 10. “We’re asking our bigs to do a lot but I know for sure we could have gotten more scoring from those two guys in the offensive rebounding category … and we could have gotten more from our bench,” Brown said.

The Thunder got five of their first eight baskets on dunks and controlled the boards early on, grabbing 16 of the game’s first 22 rebounds while keeping Los Angeles off the offensive glass for the first 11 minutes. Bryant had to create all of the offense, scoring 15 of the Lakers’ first 19 points and getting all six of his baskets without the benefit of an assist. When others started chipping in, the Lakers went on a 16-7 run to go up 35-32 following Bynum’s three-point play.

Oklahoma City scored the next eight points, including Harden’s fast-break dunk, before Bryant got past him for a pair of dunks of his own – the first a driving, two-handed reverse jam and the second a two-handed alley-oop slam over Harden.

Ah well…Mike Brown need todust off that resume and hit the unemployment line in the meantime.

Poor thang.

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Maybe they should change their names to the Oklahoma City Janitors…

The Oklahoma City Thunder Beat The Los Angeles Lakers 77-75 In Game 2 Of Western Conference Semi-Final

Even down late, the Oklahoma City Thunder are showing that they are never out.

Kevin Durant scored 22 points and rattled in the go-ahead basket on a baseline runner with 18 seconds left, and the Thunder scored the final nine points to rally for a 77-75 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals Wednesday night.

Oklahoma City trailed by seven with 2 minutes left before surging back with a series of defensive stops by its stars to claw back from that deficit in the closing stages of a game for the second time this postseason. The Thunder were also seven down with 2 1/2 minutes left in Game 1 against defending NBA champion Dallas in the first round.

“They won’t quit. That’s not in their DNA,” coach Scott Brooks said. “They’re not wired that way and if they were, they wouldn’t be here. We’re not going to win every game but we’re going to fight to the last second of the game and we did that tonight.”

“If we would have gotten down on ourselves with 2 minutes to go, we would have lost by 12 and we would go to L.A. 1-1.”

Instead, Oklahoma City takes a 2-0 lead into Game 3 on Friday night at Staples Center.

Laker coach Mike Brown spoke on the Lakers sadness and despair.

“It’s not good. I don’t think anybody’s happy in there (in the locker room),” coach Mike Brown said. ”We felt like we let one slip away.”

Bryant was right at the heart of the meltdown, missing two shots and having a hand in two turnovers in the final 2 minutes. The first turnover came when Durant used his nearly 7-foot frame and impressive wingspan to come up with an energizing steal and fast-break chance.

“He used his length on Kobe. Coming up with that steal was huge,”Brown said. “That’s what great players are supposed to do. They’re supposed to take on the challenge at the end of the game and he did.

“He won the game for them, basically.”

Do you think the Lakers have ANY chance at beating these young boys in OKC??

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Kobe dunkin’ in aisle 8?

Kobe Bryant was spotted making it rain on that produce section at a local Food City grocery store in Tucson. We’re not sure where Vanessa is, how this helps the #KobeSystem or what he’s buying but caption this photo!

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Kobe And Vanessa Bryant Attend Los Angeles Kings Hockey Game With Daughters Natalia And Gianna

Kobe and Vanessa Bryant were spotted together again… This time the couple brought daughters Natalia and Gianna to a Kings hockey game in L.A. The Beckham family was also at the game. So do you think Kobe and Nessa are workin’ it out?

Vanessa isn’t wearing her ring (you can see in one of the pics below) but it sure seems like things are looking up for the Black Mamba right now.

FameFlynetPictures/GettyImages

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Kobe love the old folks *Trick Daddy voice*

Most of us could never imagine living to see our 105th birthday. Frankly, most of us won’t. Laker fan Allene Wynn turned 105 years old earlier this week, and she celebrated by taking in the Lakers-Hornets game at the Staples Center on Saturday night.

Prior to the game, Wynn got the chance to meet her favorite player, Kobe Bryant.

“It just made me feel good all over to meet him in person,” Wynn said according to ESPNLosAngeles.com. “I’ve been wanting to meet him for years. I got to touch him. I shook hands with him and hugged him. I said, ‘Wait, let me hug you, baby.’”

Wynn said she watches the Lakers play any chance she gets and that her living room wall is plastered with Lakers memorabilia. Since she was a Laker fan before Kobe was even a thought, Wynn had no problem critiquing his game.

“I told him what I thought about his playing,” Wynn said. “I said, ‘You don’t play like I want you to play.’ I said, ‘I done came all the way over here and I don’t want to see none of that sorry stuff.’”

You know what they say, black don’t crack! What an incredible birthday gift!

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Groupies will get you in some deep doo doo…

Last week we showed you Part 1 of our Groupie Tales. This time, we’re going to highlight some men that always seem to be caught up in some groupie noise. Whether they’re getting them knocked up or cheating on their boos with them…these men looooove them some groupies.

Kobe stay swirlin’!!

Serial cheater Kobe Bryant still may have to jump through some hoopsbefore he wins back estranged wife Vanessa. Although they smooched at a Feb. 14 Lakers game, the NBA great, 33, locked lips with Dancing With The Stars’ Cheryl Burke, 27, just days before, a source reveals. Then “he stopped calling. Cheryl was a little bummed, [but] she moved on quickly.”

She must not have gotten the memo about Kobe promising Vanessa he’d never EVER EVER EVER cheat again. Poor thang.

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Nope, none. Not D-Wade, not Bron Bron. Nobody:

Lakers guard Kobe Bryant has always been lauded for his self-motivation and drive to be the best. It’s a good thing he has that internal ambition, because according to Bryant, he’s gone through his 16-year career without a true rival on the exterior to push him to succeed.

“I didn’t have one,” Bryant said after scoring 38 points in the Lakers’ 115-107 win over the Sacramento Kings on Friday. Despite Bryant’s acknowledging that it’s not just another game, he wouldn’t characterize his relationship with LeBron James as a rivalry.

“Not for me,” Bryant said. “I get up for everybody just the same, to be honest. It’s hard for me to turn my meter up any higher than it normally is.”

OK, Bryant was asked, how about Dwyane Wade? After all, Wade plays shooting guard just as Bryant does, Wade has one Finals MVP trophy to Bryant’s two, and Wade has to be close to as competitive as Bryant or else he wouldn’t have given Bryant that hard foul across the face in the All-Star Game.

“He’s too young,” Bryant said. “He’s too young. When I came into the league, he was in elementary school.”

Bryant is three years older than Wade, but was already a seven-year veteran when Wade was drafted in 2003.

Bryant said it is “a little late in the game” for him to develop a rivalry with any current NBA player, so instead he is chasing names in the record books rather than in box scores from the 2011-12 season.

“At this point my rivals, in terms of what I have left to accomplish in my career, (left the game) when Magic (Johnson) and Michael (Jordan) retired in ’98,” Bryant said, referring to the second of Jordan’s three retirements that came after he won his sixth and final championship with the Chicago Bulls. “That’s it. In terms of what I’m looking to accomplish, that’s about it.” The San Antonio Spurs’ Tim Duncan won four championships to Bryant’s five throughout their shared careers, but Bryant said while the Spurs might have qualified as a team rival to his Lakers, Duncan’s individual rivalry came against Shaquille O’Neal as a fellow big man.

“He was never in my position,” Bryant said. “He was more Shaq’s rival than mine. As a team, the Spurs were always a team that we had to go through. So from that standpoint, yes, but in terms of personally, no. I’ve outgrown them all, from A.I. (Allen Iverson) when I first came in to (Tracy) McGrady to Vince Carter and so forth and so on.”

Bryant said that he developed the desire to win multiple championships from an early age.

“It’s always what I want to accomplish,” Bryant said. “That’s what you set your goals at. Growing up, watching them, they’ve always won multiple championships and that was always something that I felt like must be done. So, my goal originally when I was a kid and so forth, and when I was a teenager, always started from gauging them.”

Although he makes a valid point, someone is certainly feelin himself wayyyyy to much.

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Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, who was injured in Sunday evening’s All-Star game in Orlando, Fla., was examined after the game. Results of a CT scan revealed that Bryant suffered a nasal fracture. It is expected that Bryant will be examined and re-evaluated by ear, nose and throat specialist Dr. John Rehm on Monday when he returns to Los Angeles.

Kobe wasn’t too happy with Lebron chickening out of taking the final shot to the All-Star game either… turn the page to peep his reaction.