Half: Thunder 66, Lakers 64

The Lakers played with more fire, more passion, more desire tonight in the first half than in any of their last four games. Now, about their defense ... Kobe Bryant scored 22 points, Pau Gasol had 18 and Andrew Bynum scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds. Russell Westbrook had 18 points and Kevin Durant had 15 for Oklahoma City, which shot 62.2 percent (23 of 37). The Thunder also made 6 of 9 3-pointers. The Lakers never led and trailed by as many as 12 points before getting close by halftime. Oh, and Kendrick Perkins scored two points and grabbed two rebounds in his first game with the Thunder against the Lakers since he was traded from the Boston Celtics in February.