G James Harden didn’t expect the Lakers to go down without a fight. Not with Kobe Bryant on their team. “That’s how it’s going to be the entire series,” Harden said. “It’s going to be a physical battle. They got two big men and obviously Kobe. It’s going to be a grind this entire series, but they got us tonight.”
G Russell Westbrook hadn’t had two consecutive poor shooting performances against the Lakers this season … until Friday night. The All-Star was 7 of 18 from the floor in Game 3 after shooting 5 of 17 in the previous game. Westbrook did score 21 points Friday, but he missed all three of his 3-point attempts.
F Kevin Durant scored 31 points in Game 3 on 12-of-23 shooting. He was the only Thunder player with more than one shot to shoot at least 50 percent. Some wondered if he should have been more aggressive. “I trust my teammates even if they miss 20 shots in a row,” Durant said. “I was just picking and choosing my spots. I got to the paint and wanted to take a good shot, but they were tough defensively. I got to the spots I wanted to. Like I said, I believe in my teammates and I’m going to continue to make the right play.”