THE OKLAHOMA CITY Thunder have qualified for the NBA Western Conference finals with a 106-90 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Kobe Bryant scored 42 points for the Lakers but it was not enough for the visitors as Russell Westbrook (28 points) and Kevin Durant (25) led the Thunder to a 4-1 semi-final series victory.
The Thunder pulled away in the third quarter after Westbrook made a long-range two-pointer, which put the home side 75-73 in front.
Oklahoma City scored 31 points to 17 for the rest of the game, including outscoring the Lakers by 10 points in the final quarter, to win game five and earn a spot in the Western Conference finals against the San Antonio Spurs.
In the other NBA playoff game, the Boston Celtics took a 3-2 lead in their Eastern Conference semi-final series, defeating the Philadelphia 76ers 101-85.
The home side trailed the 76ers by three points at half-time but Brandon Bass inspired the Celtics to a 28-16 third quarter, which set up their win.
Bass scored 18 points in the third quarter for Boston for a total of 27 for the game, his highest scoring performance ever in the NBA playoffs.
Kevin Garnett chipped in with 20 points for the Celtics, while for Philadelphia Elton Brand top-scored with 19 points.
The Celtics can wrap up their Eastern Conference semi-final series on Wednesday with a win in Philadelphia.
Watch Russell Westbrook’s steal and shot from the third quarter:
YouTube credit: NBA
If you don’t follow LIV, you’d forget McKibbin hasn’t dropped off the golf planet…
@Sea Point: He followed the money trail
@Jim Colhoun: and who could blame him
@Jacob: Not about blame unless he’s planning on getting out of the game early, the short-term gamble on LIV is ill-advised this early in his career. Having just won his PGA card, a couple of seasons on that, and then moving to LIV if it still exists would have been the intelligent move.
A great talent just a pity he decided to join the circus