Game Preview: Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Los Angeles Lakers - 01/17/11

When Los Angeles and Oklahoma City met in last season's playoffs, the top-seeded Lakers eliminated the young Thunder in a competitive first-round series.

A first-round postseason matchup this spring seems highly unlikely with a vastly improved Oklahoma City team in a tight race with Los Angeles for second place in the Western Conference.

In their first meeting since last season's playoffs, the Thunder try to win their fifth in a row Monday night when they visit the Lakers, who look to continue their dominance in this series at Staples Center.

Oklahoma City (27-13) was making its first playoff appearance since 2005 last season, and wasn't expected to give the defending champions much of a test. The Thunder entered the postseason having lost 12 of 13 to the Lakers, before nearly pushing the series to seven games.

Oklahoma City's upset bid ended when Pau Gasol came up with a last-second tip-in in Game 6 that allowed the Lakers (30-12) to advance. Gasol averaged 18.0 points and 12.2 rebounds in that series before Los Angeles went on to win a second straight title.

Less than 24 hours after Oklahoma City was eliminated by the Lakers, Kevin Durant said he was focused on winning a championship of his own.

Although the Thunder are just two years removed from a 23-win season, they look like they have what it takes to make a title run.

Oklahoma City has won four straight and 13 of 18, and is two games behind the Lakers for second place in the West.

The Thunder should be well-rested having been off since beating Orlando 125-124 on Thursday to improve to 7-0 on national TV. This will be another nationally televised game.

"Everybody gets up, I guess, for playing on TV. It's always fun," said Durant, who is averaging 32.8 points on national TV this season - 4.5 points higher than his NBA-leading average. "We only had two or three last year, so to have as many as we have now is a blessing and we just try to have a good showing."

Durant, averaging 35.3 points in his last three games, is looking to put a tough playoff series against the Lakers behind him, when he averaged 25.0 points on 35.0 percent shooting.

Durant, however, doesn't have to carry the entire offense by himself.

Russell Westbrook had 32 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds against the Magic, as the Thunder improved to 11-1 when their point guard scores at least 25 points. Westbrook topped the 25-point mark just once in last season's playoffs against Los Angeles.

Although the Thunder played the Lakers tough in the postseason, they lost all three meetings in Los Angeles.

The Oklahoma City franchise has lost 10 straight at Staples Center to the Lakers - which includes the postseason - since the Seattle SuperSonics won 123-113 on March 12, 2006.

Los Angeles enters this game riding a five-game home winning streak, although it lost at Staples Center 99-92 to the host Clippers on Sunday. Kobe Bryant had 27 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers, who saw their seven-game winning streak come to an end.

"We just didn't put up much of a fight," said Bryant, who averaged 23.5 points against the Thunder in last season's playoffs.

The Lakers have held seven of their last eight opponents to fewer than 100 points, but limiting Oklahoma City to double digits won't be easy.

The Thunder are averaging 117.3 points on 51.7 percent shooting in their last three games after averaging 92.7 points in their previous three.

"The shots are falling for us now," Oklahoma City forward Jeff Green said. "We're starting to connect on a lot of opportunities that we have."

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