LOS ANGELES — Russell Westbrook scored 10 of his 37 points during a stirring fourth-quarter comeback, Kevin Durant added 31 points and hit the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 13.7 seconds left, and the Oklahoma City Thunder seized control of the second-round series with a 103-100 victory over the Lakers in Game 4 last night.
Serge Ibaka scored 14 points for the second-seeded Thunder, who took a 3-1 series lead and moved to the brink of their second straight trip to the Western Conference finals.
Oklahoma City improved to 7-1 in the postseason with a tenacious rally on the second night of back-to-back games against the Lakers and Kobe Bryant, who scored 38 points in Los Angeles’ fifth loss in seven games overall.
The Thunder finished Game 4 on a 22-8 run, punctuated by Durant’s 3-pointer and two late free throws from James Harden, who had 12 points.
Game 5 is tomorrow night in Oklahoma City.
After sweeping Dallas in the first round, the Thunder are one win away from sending home the NBA’s last two champions.
Andrew Bynum had 18 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers, who led 92-81 with 7:45 to play before Westbrook went to work with a furious series of drives to the hoop. The UCLA product scored nine points in just over 2 minutes, and Kendrick Perkins capped the 17-4 run on a putback layup with 1:16 left, putting Oklahoma City up 98-96 with its first lead since the first quarter.
After Bryant evened it with two free throws, Westbrook and Pau Gasol then traded turnovers, with Durant swiping Gasol’s careless pass before burying a straightaway 3-pointer that silenced Staples Center. The Thunder made 10 of their 15 shots in the final period.
Metta World Peace had 14 points, and Gasol managed just 10 points and five rebounds in the second game of the Lakers’ first back-to-back playoff games in 13 years. A night after the Lakers got back in the series with a late comeback for a 99-96 victory in Game 3, Los Angeles led for most of the night, but couldn’t execute on offense late, struggling for even difficult shots.
The game was the third NBA playoff contest in 27 hours at Staples Center, which will play host to six playoff games in hockey and basketball over a four-day stretch this weekend. With the Los Angeles Kings’ ice just below the Lakers’ court, several players appeared to slip and slide on the floor during the game, and Westbrook nearly did the splits at the halftime buzzer when his right foot slipped.
“I was a little stiff, but we needed this win,” Westbrook said.