Thunder rattles Lakers

By JEFF LATZKE

AP Sports Writer

OKLAHOMA CITY — When the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City last met, Metta World Peace delivered an elbow that sent the Thunder’s James Harden home with a concussion.

It’s the Lakers who are smarting after the playoff rematch.

Russell Westbrook had 27 points and nine assists, Kevin Durant added 25 points and the Thunder blasted the weary Lakers 119-90 on Monday night in the opening game of the Western Conference semifinals.

The Thunder took a 15-point halftime lead, opened the third quarter with a 15-2 blitz filled with crowd-pleasing 3-pointers and dunks and never looked back.

“From then on, it was cruising for us,” Westbrook said. “When our team plays like that throughout the game, we put ourselves in a good opportunity to win.”

Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum scored 20 points each for the Lakers and Bynum had 14 rebounds.

Two games after trailing by as many as 28 points in a blowout loss in Game 6 in Denver, it got even worse as the Lakers were down by as many as 35. They responded to their last loss by beating the Nuggets 96-87 in a thrilling Game 7 on Saturday night.

They’ll need another big bounce back for Game 2 in Oklahoma City on Wednesday night.

“We got beat tonight. You can say anything you want to about a seven-game series and us having a day or whatever,” Los Angeles coach Mike Brown said. “The bottom line is this is the playoffs, we’ve got to come to play and we didn’t. We got beat.

“It’s one game, so we’ve got to bounce back for the next one.”

The Thunder didn’t need any dirty tactics to get even for World Peace’s suspension-worthy transgression. The league’s most turnover-prone team — committing 16.4 per game in the regular season — gave it away only four times, a record low for the franchise.

“I think that’s huge,” coach Scott Brooks said. “Four — we’ve had that the first 6 minutes of games at times.”

While the Lakers were making a quick turnaround less than 48 hours after ending the first round, the Thunder had eight full days off following their first-round sweep of defending NBA champion Dallas.

It got out of hand just after halftime, in highlight-reel fashion.

Durant lobbed the ball to Westbrook for a two-handed slam, then connected on a 3-pointer from the left wing to draw a timeout from Brown.

That still didn’t slow down Oklahoma City, which got what could have been a costly two-handed dunk from Perkins on its next trip and then another 3 from Durant before Thabo Sefolosha swiped the ball from Bryant and ran out for a layup that made it 74-46 with 8:39 left in the period.

Brooks said Perkins could have returned to play in the game but would be re-assessed on Tuesday. Perkins had missed most of the week of practice after straining a muscle in his right hip in the final game of the Dallas series.

That was about the only negative for the Thunder, who tied for the 12th-worst blowout in Lakers playoff history.

“I’m always saying, ‘We can’t get too high and we can’t get too low.’ … You know those guys are going to come out and play extremely hard,” Durant said.

Both coaches started going to their benches with 8½ minutes left, and Los Angeles reserve Devin Ebanks ended up getting ejected with 2:18 to play after walking up to a scrum for the ball after the whistle. Official Greg Willard said at the scorer’s table that he was ejected for “what he said” in drawing a technical foul.

“Obviously, they’re more well-rested than we are but I don’t think it made that much of a difference for us,” Bryant said.

“We could have had the same amount of days off. They’re just younger and faster. And tonight, what you saw is them executing extremely well.”

The buildup to the game focused largely on it being the first meeting between the teams since World Peace got a seven-game suspension for elbowing Harden. He returned just in time to help L.A. win Game 7 against Denver.

A sold-out crowd at Chesapeake Energy Arena wasn’t nearly as happy to see him back, although World Peace — who changed his name from Ron Artest — was hardly fazed by the chorus of boos that greeted him during pregame introductions or again whenever the ball came his way.

World Peace knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key amid boos the first time he touched the ball, set up a two-handed jam by Bynum and drilled another 3 within the first 2½ minutes.

The boos continued throughout the game whenever he got the ball.

“Right now, it’s about basketball,” World Peace said. “After the season we can talk about that but right now it’s more about basketball.”

The Thunder turned an early six-point deficit around with a 19-7 run punctuated by Harden’s driving layup that led to a three-point play and a 25-19 lead, and they never trailed again.

If the Lakers’ legs were weary, it showed most on the defensive end. Oklahoma City shot 53 percent and the Thunder committed only one turnover — Harden’s failed alley-oop pass for Durant that banged off the glass and was grabbed by World Peace — while building a 59-44 halftime lead.

“It’s one game,” Brooks said. “It’s the first team to four wins that wins this series. Come Wednesday night, regardless of if you won by one or 20, it doesn’t have no impact on Wednesday night.

“We have to come back with the same energy, and we know that the Lakers are going to play much better.”

Notes: Bryant tied former teammate Shaquille O’Neal for the third-most playoff games in NBA history with 216. … Perkins was called for a lane violation in the first quarter after arguing with Willard about a call and then walking up to his spot along the lane while Bynum was shooting. Bynum made both foul shots when awarded the extra chance. … Toby Keith’s daughter, Krystal, sang the national anthem.

76ERS 82, CELTICS 81

BOSTON — Evan Turner made the go-ahead layup with 40.4 seconds left and Philadelphia held off Boston the rest of the way with six straight free throws as the 76ers evened the second-round Eastern Conference series with an 82-81 victory Monday night.

Turner finished with 10 points, including his layup that put the Sixers up 76-75. He added two free throws with 12 seconds to go.

Jrue Holiday scored 18 points and Andre Iguodala added 13 points, seven assists and six rebounds for the Sixers, who blew a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter as the Celtics won Game 1.

Kevin Garnett had 15 points and 12 rebounds and Ray Allen scored 17 points for the Celtics.

Game 3 is Wednesday in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia won its first playoff game in Boston since 1982 despite committing a playoff-high 19 turnovers and getting outrebounded 47-36.

Spencer Hawes finished with eight points and 10 rebounds and Lavoy Allen scored 10 points for the Sixers.

Brandon Bass had 12 points for the Celtics, who couldn’t quite repeat their comeback in the series opener. The Sixers led by 10 points early in the fourth quarter of Game 1 before the Celtics rallied for a 92-91 victory.

It was starting to look familiar for Philadelphia on Monday, but the Sixers were able to hold off the Celtics down the stretch in a tight finish.

Philadelphia led 57-49 entering the fourth, but Boston tied it twice before going up 72-71 on Avery Bradley’s 3-pointer, setting off a series of shots from beyond the arc.

Holiday answered with a 3 for the Sixers, then Ray Allen got the lead right back for the Celtics on a 3-pointer with 1:40 left. The Celtics had a chance to extend the lead after forcing the Sixers into a 24-second shot clock violation, but Rondo missed a shot and Iguodala got the rebound, leading to Turner’s layup to put the Sixers up 76-75 with 40.4 seconds to go.

Rondo and Allen both missed shots that would have put Boston ahead, then Rondo fouled Turner with 14.4 seconds left as the shot clock was winding down.

The Celtics fouled Turner again with 12 seconds and he hit both free throws to extend the lead to 78-76.

Fans grew restless as the second half opened with sloppy, choppy play by both teams. Boston led 38-36 at halftime and nearly 7 minutes into the third quarter the score was just 43-41 with the Celtics still ahead.

When the shots finally started falling, they were all for Philadelphia. The Sixers scored 14 straight points, turning a 47-43 deficit into a 57-47 lead in the final minute of the period. Boston went without a point for 4:40, finally scoring when Pierce made two free throws with 2.4 seconds left in the period.