NBA: Lakers cough up lead late as Thunder take 2-0 lead

The Los Angeles Lakers managed just 12 fourth quarter points and allowed the Oklahoma City Thunder to score the game's last nine markers, resulting a 77-75 loss that put them in a 0-2 hole in their Western Conference semifinal series Wednesday (Thursday, PHL time) at Oklahoma City. Back-to-back baskets by Andrew Bynum had the Lakers on the edge of stealing home court advantage, up 75-68 with 2:08 left to play, but off an Oklahoma City timeout, James Harden and Kevin Durant exploded for eight unanswered points, allowing them to take the lead, 76-75 with 18 seconds left. Off three straight Lakers timeouts, Los Angeles went for the win, but with the defense shadowing Bryant, the ball went to Steve Blake for an open corner triple, but the point guard missed and the Thunder's Thabo Sefalosha corralled the miss. A pair of LA fouls later, Durant was sent to the line by Metta World Peace, where he canned the first and then intentionally missed the second with one tick of the clock left, as a raucous home crowd celebrated the victory. Durant led all scorers with a game-best 20 points, adding seven rebounds, five assists and two steals in 42 minutes of play. Russell Westbrook added 15, and Serge Ibaka shook off an early injury scare to finish with eight points and seven rejections. Andrew Bynum and Kobe Bryant each had 20 points, but the Lakers center was 8-of-19, and Bryant 9-of-25 and the entire team was ice cold from downtown, missing 13 of their 15 tries. The two teams meet in Los Angeles for game three of the best-of-seven series, Friday (Saturday, PHL time) with the Thunder looking to extend their undefeated streak in this season's post-season. - AMD/RSJ, GMA News