The Thunder took Game 1 last night in resounding fashion, sprinting past the weary Lakers in the second half to a big win. The comparative energy between the two teams is going to be a recurring factor, as the younger and fresher Thunder have a clear athletic advantage over the more seasoned veteran Laker squad. Similar to Game 3 against Dallas, OKC pushed its way to a solid 15 point lead at halftime but there were questions of whether they had left a window of opportunity open by giving up too many offensive rebounds.
OKC answered the questions in the 3rd quarter by scoring the first nine points and outscored the Lakers 24-6 in the first 6:30 of play. The Lakers are not built to be a comeback team, and so once the Thunder pushed the lead to 20, the beat (but not beaten) Lakers all but threw in the towel.
The 4th belonged to the Thunder bench, where seldom-used Cole Aldrich produced seven points and six rebounds in nine minutes of play.
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