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Rested Thunder rout leg-weary Lakers, 76ers tie series

Oklahoma City Thunder's Kevin Durant (35) is fouled by Los Angeles Lakers' Matt Barnes (9) during the second half of Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference semi-final basketball playoffs series in Oklahoma City May 14, 2012. REUTERS/Steve Sisney

(Reuters)

– The Oklahoma City Thunder delivered a blow to rival Metta World Peace’s infamous elbow by crushing

the Los Angeles Lakers 119-90 on Monday to win the opening game of the second-round playoff

series.

Oklahoma City

Thunder's Kevin Durant (35) is fouled by Los Angeles Lakers' Matt Barnes (9) during the second

half of Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference semi-final basketball playoffs series in Oklahoma City May

14, 2012. REUTERS/Steve Sisney

In the first matchup between the

teams since World Peace struck James Harden with an elbow on April 22 to draw a seven-game suspension,

the Thunder hit back to take a 1-0 series lead.

Russell Westbrook had 27 points, nine assists

and seven rebounds in limited playing time, Kevin Durant added 25 as a rested Oklahoma City team ran

circles around the visitors.

“I just tried to come out aggressive, we hadn’t played in a while

and I had some good legs underneath me,” Westbrook told reporters.

The Thunder swept their

first-round series and had more than a week off while the Lakers just wrapped up a tough seven-game

series two days ago.

Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum both had 20 points, but the Lakers fell behind

by 15 at halftime and the deficit ballooned to 30 in the third as the visitors struggled to cope with

Oklahoma City’s foot speed and athleticism.

A hostile home crowd booed World Peace throughout

the night but Harden said he did not let the elbowing incident interfere with his focus.

“(I)

put that stuff behind me and (went) out there to make plays for my team,” said Harden, who had 17

points to World Peace’s 12.

In the Eastern Conference, Philadelphia avoided a repeat of their

Game One flop and earned an 82-81 road triumph over Boston, outdueling the Celtics late to tie their

second round playoff series.

After blowing a 10-point advantage in the fourth quarter to lose

the series opener on Saturday, the youthful 76ers again saw a late lead disappear but this time they

refused to buckle and tied the best-of-seven series 1-1.

Jrue Holiday scored a team-high 18

points while Evan Turner made a go-ahead scoop shot with 40 seconds left and added two key free throws

during a rugged struggle that heated up in the final quarter.

Ray Allen had 17 and Kevin Garnett

added 15 and 12 rebounds and made a three-pointer as time expired to shave the final

deficit.

Game Three is on Wednesday in Philadelphia.

(Reporting by Jahmal Corner in Los

Angeles; Editing by Peter

Rutherford)

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