Things Get Heated In Thunder Loss To Lakers

Grant Belcher, News9.com

LOS ANGELES – This one hurt the Thunder in more ways than one.

After James Harden was knocked out of the game in the second quarter, the Lakers went on to complete a furious rally and top Oklahoma City 114-106 in double overtime on Sunday afternoon.

But despite the thrilling finish, the most lasting story from the game might have come from the second quarter.

Lakers forward Metta World Peace, notorious in the past for his overly physical play and tendency to get into fights during games, let loose on James Harden shortly before halftime.

After a season of avoiding such incidents, World Peace hit Harden with a vicious elbow to the side of the head, knocking Harden to the court for several minutes.

The accident came at the 1:39 mark in the second quarter after World Peace dunked to make the score 48-47, OKC.

Artest was immediately ejected and will likely face a multi-game suspension that could spill over into the playoffs, as the Lakers have just one regular season game remaining.

Harden went to the locker room and did not return for the rest of the game. He passed the NBA's mandatory tests for concussions and was cleared to come back in, but team officials and medical staff thought better of it and sent Harden back to the locker room to receive further treatment for concussion-like symptoms.

To add insult to injury, OKC appeared to have the game well in order before a furious rally from the Lakers in the fourth quarter forced multiple overtimes.

Oklahoma City led by 17 points in the fourth quarter before allowing several Laker runs, including an 18-3 run to give LA its first lead since the early stages of the game with 1:43 remaining.

The lead seesawed several times before Oklahoma City had a shot at the buzzer to win it, but a Kevin Durant 3-pointer clanked off the front of the rim.

After a similar pace in the first overtime, the Thunder once again found themselves in a similar position.

Inbounding the ball with 2.3 seconds remaining, Russell Westbrook took the ball off a give-and-go with Kendrick Perkins and missed a leaning 3-pointer.

But the Lakers finally found their edge in the second overtime period. With the game tied at 104 and less than a minute on the clock, Kobe Bryant hit a long jumper to put his team up two.

He followed it up with two free throws after getting fouled on a drive to the rim to put his team up four points with 36 seconds left.

The margin was just enough to keep the Thunder at arm's length for the remainder of the game.

The loss is a big blow to OKC's hopes for the top overall seed in the West, as it moved the Thunder down to a full game behind San Antonio in the standings. Oklahoma City would have to not only catch the Spurs but surpass them in order to get the top seed, as the Spurs hold the tiebreaker in the season series.

Durant led all Thunder scorers with 35 points but shot just 11-of-34 in the game. Russell Westbrook had 14 points and 10 assists but also struggled to score the ball, shooting just 3-of-22.

Kobe Bryant struggled most of the game but came alive at the end of the fourth quarter and overtime. He finished with 26 points.

Durant's 35 points give him the current scoring lead by the slimmest of margins over Bryant. He came into the game trailing Bryant by a tenth of a point.

Both teams shot less than 40 percent in the Lakers' biggest comeback victory of the season.

Oklahoma City has two regular season games remaining on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday's game will be at Sacramento and will tip off at 7 p.m. central time.