Lakers 101, Thunder 94
Pau Gasol led a balanced attack with seven of his 21 points in the fourth quarter as the host Los Angeles Lakers held off the Oklahoma City Thunder 101-94 on Monday night.
Russell Westbrook had 32 points and 12 assists and Kevin Durant had 24 points and eight rebounds for the Thunder (27-14), which has lost 11 straight against the Lakers at Los Angeles dating back to 2006 when they were the Seattle Sonics.
Kobe Bryant also scored 21 points and had seven assists, while Lamar Odom had 16 points and seven rebounds and Derek Fisher scored 15 for the Lakers (31-12).
Andrew Bynum added 10 points and 10 rebounds for Los Angeles, which has won six straight at home and improved to 8-1 in second night of back-to-back games – including six straight – this season.
Oklahoma City, which was 2-for 22-from 3-point range, fell to 11-2 when Westbrook scores 25 or more points.
The Lakers opened the second half with an 18-6 run to take a 76-61 lead, but the Thunder went on a 14-2 run before they eventually trailed 81-75 after three quarters.
It was the first meeting between the teams since the Lakers eliminated the Thunder in the first round of the playoffs last season in six games.