Surprising Los Angeles Lakers shake down the Thunder, Durant 114-110

A third triple-double of the season from Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant wasn’t enough to get by the Los Angeles Lakers, who surprisingly got by OKC 114-110 on Sunday.

Lakers guard Jodie Meeks scored 24 of his career-high 42 points in the second half, and Pau Gasol added 20 points of his own for the Western Conference worst Lakers.

I wouldn’t expect this to be a sign that the Lakers are ready to make a run for the playoffs, but it certainly shows that despite being completely decimated by injuries this year, the Lakers still have the talent to play with anyone…when they want to.

Los Angeles (22-42) had given up an average of 136 points over their previous three games – consecutive losses to New Orleans, the Clippers and Denver. [Source: Sports Illustrated] Today the Lakers trailed the Thunder by as many as 18 points in the second quarter before Meeks sank two free throws that gave L.A. a 71-70 with 4:35 left in the third quarter.

The Thunder (46-17) came into today’s game in a three-way tie with San Antonio and Indiana for the NBA’s best record, and now sit 1/2 game behind the idle Spurs, while Indiana will face the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday night.

A nice win for the Lakers, but still a far stretch from being able to save head coach Mike D’Antoni’s job when the season is over.