Oklahoma City

As he approached center court, Kobe Bryant offered handshakes to Oklahoma City forward Kevin Durant and guard Russell Westbrook. The greeting provided two figurative meanings. Part of it involved Bryant's confidence. The Lakers had just defeated Oklahoma City in a six-game, first-round series in the 2010 NBA playoffs, confirming once again that experience and size beats youth and speed. Three playoff series later, Bryant would collect his fifth NBA championship ring.

Before Samuel Cifuentes walked out the door, his younger brother warned him about the storm bearing down on Oklahoma City. " Tené cuidado. Ya viene un tornado ," Byron Cifuentes said. (Be careful. A tornado is coming.) Samuel dismissed his brother's worry. " Ha bueno. Al que le toca, le toca . " (Well, if it's your time to go, it's your time to go.) A few hours later, Samuel Cifuentes was gone. At least 20 Oklahomans died in a tornado outbreak 10 days ago. Almost half of the storm's victims - four adults, including Cifuentes, and five young children - were Guatemalan.

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.

Three storm chasers killed by a tornado near Oklahoma City last week were not risk-takers or thrill-seekers, but experienced researchers dedicated to advancing the field of meteorology, family and colleagues said Sunday. Tim Samaras, 54, was well-respected in the meteorological community and widely considered a leader in tornado research and data collection, experts said. He died along with his 24-year-old son, Paul Samaras, and partner Carl Young, 45, while tracking an EF-3 tornado that struck the Oklahoma City suburb of El Reno on Friday evening.

Some things to watch when the Thunder hosts the Lakers in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals. Oklahoma City leads the series, 1-0. 1. How will the Lakers' defend the pick-and-roll? The Lakers provided a great clinic in their 119-90 Game 1 loss on exactly what not to do in this category. Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum didn't show out on screens, allowing the Thunder to shoot a blistering 53% from the field mostly because of open jumpers. Kobe Bryant, Metta World Peace, Ramon Sessions and Steve Blake didn't stick tightly to Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and James Harden, respectively, allowing each of them to create through dribble penetration.

Three storm chasers killed by a tornado near Oklahoma City last week were not risk-takers or thrill-seekers, but experienced researchers dedicated to advancing the field of meteorology, family and colleagues said Sunday. Tim Samaras, 54, was well-respected in the meteorological community and widely considered a leader in tornado research and data collection, experts said. He died along with his 24-year-old son, Paul Samaras, and partner Carl Young, 45, while tracking an EF-3 tornado that struck the Oklahoma City suburb of El Reno on Friday evening.

With Lakers training camp only eight days away, I talked with former Laker James Worthy for insight into this year's team. Worthy is also an analyst with Time Warner Cable SportsNet.  You mentioned the other day that the Lakers "look really good on paper. " So does a counterfeit $100 bill until you try to spend it. Is there anything specific that leaves you tentative about this year's team? There's nothing in particular that leaves me tentative. It's just from my experience, it's there anytime you bring in new aspects of the team.

HOUSTON - Authorities were investigating an attempted robbery scene in north Texas on Thursday where two Oklahoma teenagers were found fatally shot - possibly by self-inflicted gunshots - and the local sheriff praised the armed homeowner who fired on the suspected intruders. Kenneth Chaffin, 17, and Dillon King, 18 - both of Bethel Acres, Okla. - died Wednesday of what appeared to be self-inflicted gunshot wounds outside of a house in rural north Texas after exchanging gunfire with the owner, investigators in Texas and Oklahoma told the Associated Press . Pottawatomie County Undersheriff J.T. Palmer in Oklahoma, who identified the pair to the Associated Press through photographs and distinctive tattoos, did not return calls Thursday.

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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Top country music stars, including Oklahoma native Blake Shelton and his Grammy Award-winning wife, Miranda Lambert, were gathering Wednesday to raise money for the tornado-ravaged state. Set to perform during a telethon at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in downtown Oklahoma City, just miles from Moore's carnage, were other stars including Vince Gill and Reba McEntire, who are both from Oklahoma, Usher, Darius Rucker and Rascal Flatts. The telethon is being called “ Healing in the Heartland.” A week after the deadly tornado ripped through parts of Oklahoma, killing 24 and causing $2 billion in damage, much of the Midwest again braced for another round of meteorological dangers on Wednesday, including more tornadoes and possible flooding along the Mississippi River.

MOORE, Okla. - Preston and Nikki McCurtain are exhausted. It's been a week since a massive tornado tore through this Oklahoma City suburb, leaving thousands homeless and 24 dead, including 10 children. Seven were students at Plaza Towers Elementary School, where Nikki McCurtain was about to finish her first year as a fourth-grade teacher. As Nikki grieves - one of her 26 students lost a sibling, and she knows the children who died - her husband helps others with their pain. He manages Moore Funeral and Cremation in this wounded city.

OKLAHOMA CITY - Before 18-year-old Zach Joyner rushed into a storm shelter Monday, he made sure to grab two prized possessions: his blue Southmoore High School graduation cap and gown. "It's important to me," he said of the ceremonial garb. "I thought, 'I cannot take a chance on this.'" Joyner wore the cap and gown proudly at Southmoore High School graduation Saturday afternoon, five days after a massive tornado ravaged his hometown. Three high schools in Moore and south Oklahoma City - Westmoore, Southmoore and Moore - held back-to-back ceremonies at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City.

OKLAHOMA CITY - She had to pause several times. She needed to collect herself. But then Amy Simpson opened up and memories of a harrowing day poured out. "In God's name, go away!" Simpson said she yelled as Monday's tornado approached Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Okla., where she is principal. "Go away. " Moments later, the tornado had gone. But it only needed moments to level her campus and take the lives of seven students. They were 8 and 9 years old. As she stood before a bank of cameras at a Friday news conference held in the auditorium of another elementary school, Simpson recalled the routine but satisfying slices of her day, the way her job and her school had been before the tornado: Students singing and reciting the school motto during the weekly "Rise and Shine" meeting.

MOORE, Okla. - Rain drenched the tornado-devastated towns near Oklahoma City again Thursday as weary survivors began to bury their dead and find the strength to carry on. Authorities said they didn't expect the death toll to rise beyond 24 - 10 of whom were children. More than 375 people were injured. The first funeral was for Antonia Lee Candelaria, 9, one of seven children killed when Monday's tornado leveled Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore. In her obituary, "Tonie" was described as "a beautiful young lady on the inside and out" who could "find the positive, good and joy in everything.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Uh-oh, 2-0? The San Antonio Spurs find themselves in a familiar place, having won the first two games of the Western Conference finals for a second consecutive season. This is where their season unraveled in stunning fashion last year amid a barrage of baskets by Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden. The Spurs lost four consecutive games, a season-ending slide that seemed all the more improbable considering they had won their previous 20 games.

Lakers tonight VS. OKLAHOMA CITY When: 6:30. Where: Staples Center. On the air: TV: FS West; Radio: 710, 1330. Records: Lakers 9-3, Thunder 7-6. Record vs. Thunder: 1-0. Update: The Lakers barely got by the Thunder in Oklahoma City on Nov. 3, winning 101-98 in overtime. That had to get the Lakers' attention, right? "I hope so," guard Derek Fisher said. "But for some reason, you never seem to know." The Thunder, the second-youngest team in the NBA with an average age of 25, has several key players the Lakers will have to watch.

MOORE, Okla. - Under a sunny sky, residents of this Oklahoma City suburb began cleaning up debris from the monstrous tornado that inflicted death and destruction - bodies of animals, overturned cars, homes reduced to rubble - as more information emerged about the human victims. The twister killed 24 people, the state medical examiner said Wednesday, 10 of them children, including two infants. The dead ranged from a 4-month-old boy to a 70-year-old woman and included two 9-year-olds who were best friends.

MOORE, Okla. - The grueling recovery from a killer tornado began Tuesday as search-and-rescue operations continued, but authorities acknowledged that the likelihood of finding anyone alive grew dimmer by the moment. In a rare bit of good news, the state medical examiner slashed the confirmed death tally in half. On Monday night, officials had pegged it at 51, including 20 children, and said the toll would grow. But some victims had been counted more than once, officials said Tuesday, as they reported the number of deaths at 24, including nine children.