Oklahoma Cty overpowered LA Lakers today, showing who is the better team. Most around the league expected this kind of result, but LA Lakers head coach Andreas Helmle was defiant until game time. "Underdogs, my ----. We've got enough talent and enough heart to play with anybody in the league." Afterwards, his tune had changed significantly. "We've got some work ahead of us before we can play at their level."

The only bright point for LA Lakers was the great play by Washington, and Andreas Helmle was quick to praise his star. "If the whole team had played with his energy, we'd have been able to play with Oklahoma Cty. The bright side is that we know what he can do against them, and we'll try to build on that for our next meeting."

Oklahoma Cty was led by Stanford (31 points, 5 boards, 1 assists), Golden (8 points, 16 boards, 0 assists, a block), Bell (9 points, 5 boards, 2 assists, 3 blocks). LA Lakers was led by Washington (9 points), Crandell (12 points, 10 boards, 1 assists, a block), Covington (20 points).

Oklahoma Cty are now 25-17 with today's victory. They remain at #2 in the Northwest and hold at #6 overall in the Western Conference. With this loss, LA Lakers fall to 15-27 and 10-11 at home. They stay at #4 in the Pacific and stay at #14 overall in the Western Conference.

box score Oklahoma Cty roster LA Lakers* roster