Oklahoma City

The Thunder sped past the Lakers, and they couldn't keep up. The Lakers' championship experience surpassed the Thunder, and Oklahoma City couldn't provide a rebuttal. Two years after battling each other in a six-game first-round playoff series, both teams have acquired chess pieces that could set up an epic Western Conference finals contest. In a deal with Cleveland, the Lakers acquired guard Ramon Sessions, whose speed, play-making and youth allow him to move like a knight across the board.

OKLAHOMA CITY - The Lakers can only hope that their point guard of the future is better than the one of their recent past. Even if the player who fits both descriptions is Ramon Sessions. After providing a considerable boost upon his acquisition in March, Sessions was a disappointment for most of the Western Conference semifinals. His performance in the Lakers' season-ending 106-90 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 on Monday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena may have been a new low. Two of Sessions' playoff-worst six turnovers triggered big runs by the Thunder.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Kevin Durant doesn't need much resume building. The Oklahoma City Thunder forward is already known the basketball world over for his prolific scoring and late-game shooting. Now he can add a line when he lists his experience: clutch defender. Durant's steal of a Kobe Bryant pass late in the fourth quarter helped ignite the Thunder's game-ending 9-0 run during a stunning 77-75 come-from-behind victory over the Lakers on Wednesday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Game 2 of their Western Conference semifinal series.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Andrew Bynum was right. Close-out games can be easy. The Oklahoma City Thunder stepped all over the Lakers in the fourth quarter of their 106-90 Game 5 victory Monday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena, ending the Lakers' season yet again in the Western Conference semifinals. It wasn't as bad as last season's 36-point blowout loss in Dallas, and there won't be any carry-over suspensions for next season, but the two-championship run the Lakers put together couldn't have seemed any further in the past.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- As the red and blue streamers dropped from the sky around the fallen Lakers faces, it felt like more than the end of a series. With "Takin' Care of Business" thumping and thousands rhythmically clapping around the staggering Lakers bodies, it felt like more than the end of a season. What happened here on a strange and sad Monday night felt like the end of an era. PHOTOS: Lakers vs. Thunder, Game 5 Kobe Bryant's window to win a sixth championship in Los Angeles may have officially shut, and who knows whether he will want to stick around to spend his final years pressing his nose against the glass?

Looking ahead Oklahoma City at Clippers Monday at 7:30 p.m. PDT. TV: Prime, NBA TV The Clippers have been dismissed in some precincts as a cute little story that will come to an abrupt end in the playoffs. Try telling that to Oklahoma City, which has lost two of three meetings this season between franchises enjoying a swift ascent in the Western Conference. Chris Paul has been particularly bothersome to the Thunder, collecting 26 points and 14 assists on Jan. 30 during a 112-100 Clippers victory and scoring nine of the Clippers' final 11 points Wednesday during a 100-98 triumph in Oklahoma City.

The Lakers-Oklahoma City series was already going to be rollicking, a classic case of young versus old. Then came the bonuses from the basketball lords the last two months. Derek Fisher ended up with the Thunder after being traded by the Lakers in March. James Harden took an elbow to the side of the head from Metta World Peace last month. Welcome to the newly refurbished Western Conference semifinals. The Thunder has awaited this matchup longer than the nine days since its first-round sweep of Dallas.

Metta World Peace didn't expect a seven-game suspension from the NBA and will not contact James Harden because it's important to "stay competitive," the Lakers forward said Wednesday. World Peace has been in the eye of the sports world since elbowing Harden in the head Sunday in the Lakers' 114-106 victory in double overtime over Oklahoma City. He said his "main concern" was Harden's recovery but acknowledged he hadn't contacted him directly. "I see James in the summertime sometimes, playing basketball.

Although they're huddled close, the tens of thousands of cattle are remarkably quiet. The cowboys traversing the blocks-long boardwalk above hear only the occasional bellow below. In familiar hats, jeans and boots, the men ? and some women ? make their way toward the bustling auction arena. Some come to the Oklahoma National Stock Yards just to watch the bustle of cattle, but most come, checkbook in hand, to bid and to buy. This has been going on in Oklahoma City for 100 years, since cattlemen began bringing their critters to market here.

Among the highlights of Kobe Bryant's interview in the Lakers' 103-92 loss Thursday to Oklahoma City On why the Thunder's energy was better than the Lakers: "Because they're younger and have more than we do. " If Lakers can beat Thunder: "Absolutely. We just have to execute and slow the game down. They got a great deal of fast break points, a lot of offensive rebounds and 50-50 balls. We have to eliminate those. " On Russell Westbrook: "Russell Westbrook established the tempo in the third quarter and changed the pace of the game.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- As the red and blue streamers dropped from the sky around the fallen Lakers faces, it felt like more than the end of a series. With "Takin' Care of Business" thumping and thousands rhythmically clapping around the staggering Lakers bodies, it felt like more than the end of a season. What happened here on a strange and sad Monday night felt like the end of an era. PHOTOS: Lakers vs. Thunder, Game 5 Kobe Bryant's window to win a sixth championship in Los Angeles may have officially shut, and who knows whether he will want to stick around to spend his final years pressing his nose against the glass?

Guard Derek Fisher, grand old man of the Oklahoma City Thunder, is the emotional rock of an otherwise young team. "He's the best I've played with or seen in terms of being able to address a team, talk to a team, communicate with guys in a way that's really effective," forward Nick Collison said of Fisher, 37. "It's like having another coach, but he still has the respect of the players. It doesn't feel like he's preaching at you, he just makes a lot of sense. " In that way, the Lakers can only hope that passing the rock doesn't come back to haunt them.

After spending a season fighting age, battling immaturity, struggling with old habits and jabbing with a new coach, the Lakers have ended up where we pretty much thought they would. Out of breath and on the ropes. Their veteran star is exhausted and annoyed. Their kid center is angry and distant. Their power forward is uncertain and embattled. And their season is officially on the brink after they blew a 13-point lead in a 103-100 loss to Oklahoma City on Saturday in the fourth and perhaps deciding game of their first-round playoff series.

So, the Thunder want to force Kobe Bryant out of his game.Oklahoma City will double and triple team him to limit his dominance. The Thunder hopes the strategy will force him into a role as facilitator. The brash and aggressive combination of James Harden and Thabo Sefolosha try to goad the Lakers' star into needlessly throwing up shots.Oh, it works sometimes.

Nearly every time Andrew Bynum muscled his way inside, two barricades stopped his imposing presence. One roadblock came in the form of Thunder center Kendrick Perkins, whose physical approach to defense suddenly prevented Bynum from bullying his way to the basket. The other barrier simply reflected Bynum missing routine hooks, post-up shots or "bunnies," as he likes to call them. The Lakers' 99-96 victory Friday over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 3 of their Western Conference semifinal playoff series featured Bynum shooting only two of 13 from the field, leading him to say, "My touch today was a little off around the rim. " Yet, Lakers Coach Mike Brown gushed afterward that Bynum "was an absolute monster.

New adventures in Lakers playoff losses … They have been blown out. They have frittered away a seven-point lead in the final two minutes. On Saturday night, in one of the cruelest defeats imaginable, the Lakers found themselves immersed in a nearly total fourth-quarter implosion. A 13-point cushion was obliterated during the final eight minutes of a wobbly leggged 103-100 defeat against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Staples Center in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals.

THE BEST WAY TO OKLAHOMA CITY From LAX, nonstop service to Oklahoma City is offered on United. Direct service (stop, no change of plane) is offered on Southwest, and connecting service (change of planes) is offered on American, Delta, Continental, United, Southwest and Frontier. Restricted round-trip fares begin at $238. WHAT TO DO Visitors are welcome at the Oklahoma National Stock Yards ' sprawling arena, 107 Livestock Exchange Building, Oklahoma City; (405)

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The Lakers got the ending right this time. Kobe Bryant and Metta World Peace made sure of it Friday night at Staples Center, helping the Lakers hold on for a breathless 99-96 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals. Two days after he had flubbed the final minutes of Game 2, missing two shots and being in the midst of a pair of turnovers, Bryant was nearly flawless late in a game the Lakers had to win. He scored eight of his 36 points in the final 92 seconds, including two free throws that put the Lakers ahead to stay with 33 seconds left.

OK, so I recognize that guy. Of course, absolutely, that's him. Still clutch, still fearless, still talented enough to throw his aging body in front of a defeat and almost single-handedly stop it, spin it on its axis, and turn it into a victory. Yeah, Kobe Bryant is still the one. Two days after giving away a second-round playoff game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Bryant grabbed one back for the Lakers on Friday night, controlling the momentum and creating the magic that gave the Lakers a 99-96 home victory in Game 3. With memories of Bryant's fourth-quarter collapse Wednesday still fresh, Bryant scored 14 points in this fourth quarter to give the Lakers new life, if only for 24 hours.