Lakers 105, Thunder 98

Observations, news and notes from Tuesday’s game…….

* The Thunder looked like they didn’t want to put a body on Lamar Odom or Pau Gasol. Grabbing a few more boards would have completely changed the face of this game.

* Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic and Trevor Ariza killed OKC at the start of the fourth quarter. When they made timely shot after timely shot to start the period, I thought Scott Brooks should have immediately put his entire starting unit back in to squash their momentum and try to make a run with the Lakers’ starters on the bench.

* Kevin Durant’s final stat line of 31 points, 10 rebounds and four assists and four steals look great. The 10 of 23 and the five turnovers do a better job of telling the story of his game. He got off to a slow start shooting the ball and had one critical turnover down the stretch where he just lost the ball on a fastbreak that could have made it a six-point game with 26 seconds left. But another great effort from Durant nonetheless.

* Russell Westbrook flirted with a triple-double but stopped passing the rock. He finished with 17 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

* For those who say Westbrook clinching his right wrist following his breakaway dunk in the first half, he said after the game that it’s fine and he just dunked too hard.

* Durant also said he’s fine after running into Lakers guard Derek Fisher hard for an offensive foul in the second half. 

* You’ve got to like the poise these young guys showed coming into Staples Center against the league’s best team and arguably its best player in Kobe Bryant. No one backed down. No one looked like the stage was too big for him. It would be easy to say that they’re professional athletes and that’s what they should do. Sure. But, remember, four of the five Thunder starters are 22 or younger.