On the second night of a back-to-back against an Oklahoma City Thunder team that had knocked them around to the tune of 40-point and 35-point losses in their two previous meetings this season, you would have assumed that things in STAPLES Center would have gotten quite ugly quite quickly for the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night.
However, in front of the national television audience with ESPN carrying the game, the Lakers put forth one of their most spirited efforts of the entire season. Even with Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant having big nights for OKC and with D’Angelo Russell only playing eight minutes due to an ankle injury, Lou Williams and Kobe Bryant still found a way.