9:30 P.M.: Lakers Look To Regain Control Of Series Against Thunder

For more on tonight's game, be sure to check out our Lakers blog at Silver Screen and Roll and our Thunder Blog at Welcome To Loud City.

(Sports Network) - The upstart Oklahoma City Thunder hope to deadlock their Western Conference quarterfinals series with the defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers tonight.

The Thunder got back in the set on Thursday when Kevin Durant scored 29 points and pulled down 19 rebounds, pacing Oklahoma City to a 101-96 win over the Lakers in Game 3.

On a night Oklahoma City's Scott Brooks was handed the award as the league's top head coach, the Thunder garnered their first playoff win as a franchise since moving from Seattle. The last postseason triumph came in 2005 when the SuperSonics played San Antonio in the Western Conference semifinals.

Russell Westbrook tallied 27 points and eight rebounds in the win. He and Durant combined for 22 of Oklahoma City's final 23 points, and the Thunder defense held superstar Kobe Bryant to 2-of-10 shooting in the last period.

Durant had a lot to do with that, guarding Bryant for most of that fourth quarter.

"He missed some shots he'd normally hit," Durant said. "I was praying they'd bounce off the rim. I just tried to play my hardest, use my length to disturb his shot. My teammates did a great job helping me out."

James Harden scored 18 points off the bench for the eighth-seeded Thunder.

Bryant had 24 points and eight assists, but went just 10-of-29 from the field for the defending champs, who still hold a 2-1 series lead. Pau Gasol ended with 17 points and 15 rebounds before fouling out. Derek Fisher also scored 17 for the Lakers, who went 10-of-31 from beyond the arc.

Despite the loss, Bryant (4,465) passed the legendary Jerry West (4,457) for first on the Lakers' all-time playoff scoring list.

Andrew Bynum tallied 13 points and seven boards, while Ron Artest scored 11 in defeat as LA sent Oklahoma City to the foul line 34 times (27 makes), while the Lakers converted 10-of-12 at the charity stripe.

"The key factor is the free throws," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "They shot 41 percent, but we even shot better than they did. But you can't beat a team when you stick them on the line 34 times. That has to go with their aggressiveness."

Last Sunday's Game 1 marked Oklahoma City's return to the playoffs for the first time since the then-SuperSonics won the Northwest Division back in the 2004-05 campaign.

Since the NBA changed its playoff format in 1984, there have only been three occasions when a No. 8 seed has shocked a No. 1. The last time an eight topped a No. 1 was in 2007 when Golden State upended Dallas.

Game 5 of the best-of-seven series is Tuesday back in LA.