OKLAHOMA CITY -- In a reversal of roles, Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers know theyre the predators trying to track down Kevin Durants Oklahoma City Thunder. They have some work to do. Durant had 36 points, Russell Westbrook scored 27 of his 33 in the first half to stake Oklahoma City to a commanding lead and the Thunder beat the short-handed Lakers 114-108 Friday night. "Theyre a team that everybody likes. As a young team coming up, you always want to beat the best," Westbrook said. "I think thats one of the things that motivates us." Bryant had 35 points for Los Angeles, which trailed by as many as 19 before rallying to get within four in the final minute. Dwight Howard added 23 points and 18 rebounds for the Lakers, who were eliminated by the Thunder in five games in last seasons Western Conference semifinals. Howard and Steve Nash were part of an off-season overhaul to try and catch up to the Thunder. Instead, the Lakers are 9-11 and focusing on small gains that give them the belief theyll eventually turn it around. "Its 82 games. This team has just gotten together," Howard said. "Its not like were going to get together and start winning right away. ... Were learning how to play together. Were getting better. This is not on anybodys time table but ours." Westbrooks big first half put the Thunder in control, but L.A. charged back with a late 27-12 run to make it interesting. The game grew tense when Metta World Peace -- already a public enemy in Oklahoma City after he clocked James Harden last season -- and Serge Ibaka each got technical fouls for a confrontation in the closing minutes. World Peace grabbed Ibakas back and the two barked at each other face to face and chest to chest, with Ibaka then grasping the back of World Peaces jersey. Ibaka rared back with his right fist clenched, but the two were separated before it escalated any further. "Its always like that with us, especially Metta World Peace and Serge," Durant said. "Those guys are just playing hard. I dont think it was nothing malicious or bad plays, just guys playing hard." The Lakers never backed down. After trailing by 12 with 1:32 remaining, Jodie Meeks drove for a pair of layups and Chris Duhon followed with a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 110-105. Bryant followed Durants two free throws with a 3-pointer from the corner to get the deficit down to four with 15 seconds left. Durant hit two foul shots and Meeks airballed a 3-pointer as the rally fizzled. "Theyre a tough team," Durant said. "They fought hard all night and made it tough on us." That it even ended up so close was a surprise after how the first half went, with Westbrook red hot and Oklahoma City outscoring L.A. 26-8 in fast-break points on its way to a 14-point lead. Westbrook was in attack mode right from the start with Los Angeles missing top point guards Nash (left leg) and Steve Blake (abdominal surgery), plus All-Star forward Pau Gasol for the third straight game with tendinitis in both knees. Westbrook buried 3-pointers on two of Oklahoma Citys first three possessions on his way to making a career-best five from behind the arc -- all in the first half. "Thats as good as Ive seen him shoot the ball," Bryant said. When Westbrook missed his first eight shots of the second half, Durant helped pick up the slack. He made a jumper, a 3-pointer and a runner for a personal 7-0 run that increased Oklahoma Citys edge to 85-66 with 3:34 left in the third quarter. That 19-point cushion was restored with 7:42 left in the game when Nick Collison took a charge at one end and then dunked at the other to make it 100-81. The Lakers didnt have quite enough to come back. "We all know that the Lakers are one of the best teams," Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said. "They dont have the record right now but they will. Theyre going to get some guys healthy and theyre going to get some rhythm but they have the best centre in basketball and they have one of the best players ever." That still wasnt enough. The Thunder charged ahead in the second quarter, just as theyd done in each of their previous five games -- outscoring opponents by 55 points in the period during that span. After directing a 10-0 run earlier in the quarter, Westbrook connected on back-to-back jumpers from the right elbow and assisted on Ibakas jumper before making a 3 from the left wing. To top it all off, he made his fifth 3-pointer while getting fouled by Duhon -- then still went ahead with his usual celebration move of acting as though he were holstering his hands even while lying on his back. NOTES: Howard spent time near the end of the Lakers shootaround practicing his free throws, with Nash -- a 90-per cent foul shooter in his career -- offering suggestions and even mimicking a follow through. At one point, Howard made eight in a row. "My mind cannot get clouded with everybody telling me how to shoot a free throw," said Howard, whos shooting 47 per cent at the line this season. "I just have to go up there and shoot it my way and not get caught up with what everybody else is saying because thats when I miss." ... The Lakers went to see the movie "Lincoln" on their day off Thursday. Bryant joked that he didnt know what was taught in school anymore and some of his teammates might not have known Abraham Lincolns story. "Im curious to see if you took a poll who knew," Bryant said. "Maybe it came as a great shock to them that Lincoln died at the end of the film." ... Bryant didnt argue when told that Durant called him an "old fart." He said he calls Durant "Similac," a brand of baby formula. ... Oklahoma City recalled Daniel Orton, Jeremy Lamb and Perry Jones III from Tulsa of the NBA development league. Jones was on crutches with a sprained left ankle the team referred to as mild. cheap jerseys from china . Friday night in front of 5,095 at Shaw Park, starter Fabian Williamson allowed just one run on four hits over 6. cheap jerseys . Even with speculation swirling around the Vancouver Canucks uncertain goaltending situation, Schneider doesnt appear to be in any rush to see it resolved. http://www.shopcheapjerseysofficia... . On Thursday, the club signed free agent Maicer Izturis to a three-year, $9M deal. [url=http://www.shopcheapjerseysofficial.com/]wholesale jerseys . PETERSBURG, Fla. wholesale nfl jerseys . The Winnipeg Goldeyes overcame an early 2-0 deficit to beat the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks 4-2 Wednesday night before 2,178 fans at Newman Outdoor Field. DALLAS -- Dmitry Kulikov and Jason Garrison kept up the scoring for the Florida Panthers offensive-minded defence. Kulikov and Garrison scored first-period goals, Scott Clemmensen stopped 25 shots for his seventh career shutout, and the Panthers routed the Dallas Stars 6-0 on Tuesday night. Florida started the night leading the league in points from defencemen. Assists from Brian Campbell and Mike Weaver made it a four-point night for Floridas defencemen, giving the Panthers 52 points from their blue-line this season. "Its definitely a mentality," Garrison said. "The forwards work hard down low, we work low to high and get shots through. Thats definitely the game plan." Kris Versteeg and Stephen Weiss each had a goal and two assists for the Panthers, and linemate Tomas Fleischmann added a goal and an assist in an eight-point night for Floridas top line. Evgeny Dadonov also scored for the Panthers. Weiss skated in his 574th game for the Panthers, breaking a tie with Robert Svehla and moving into second place on the franchise list behind current Dallas Star Radek Dvoraks 613 games. Clemmensen was also on top of his game against a team that started the night second in the Western Conference with 22 points. "Its a team effort," said Clemmensen, who missed 13 games this season with a knee injury. "Everybody contributed. Its a lot of fun to be a part of it. You play good defence, score some goals from the blue-line, thats a good combination." The Stars, coming off consecutive road losses to Pittsburgh and Detroit, had been 6-1 at home. Dallas, which has lost a season high three in a row, opened a stretch of five of six games at home with its most lopsided defeat of the season. "This is probably the most embarrassing game weve had at home in quite some time, this season anyway," Stars captain Brenden Morrow said. "Right now, you look back, its probably been about nine periods wheere weve been outworked.dddddddddddd Some periods in there, five to 10 minutes in those games where weve done things well, but its pretty simple, we got outworked these last few games." Kari Lehtonen kept the Stars in the game early with a series of tough saves before the Panthers scored. Kulikov connected from the slot off Tomas Kopeckys centring pass at 16:44 of the opening period. It was Kulikovs first goal of the season. Garrison beat Lehtonen for his seventh goal of the season to make it 2-0 at 18:08 of the first period. Florida held a 14-4 shots edge in the first 20 minutes and didnt let up. Fleischmann fired into the top right corner of the net from the slot for his seventh of the season at 15:02 of the second. And Weiss made it 4-0 with 7.6 seconds left in the second for his sixth goal of the season. Versteegs ninth goal of the season halfway through the final period gave the Panthers a five-goal edge, and Dadonov completed the scoring at 13:19 when the puck went in off his skate for his second of the season. The Stars are facing their first adversity of the season after getting off to a fast start. "I just think the honeymoons over," rookie coach Glen Gulutzan said. "You start off 11-3 and teams are prepared to play you, they probably watch you a little closer and I thought Florida did a really good job pre-scouting us." Notes: The Panthers are 7-3 on the road, 2-2-3 at home. ... The Stars placed D Alex Goligoski on injured reserve with a broken thumb four days after he was injured in a 3-1 loss at Pittsburgh, his former team. Goligoski is second among Dallas defencemen with six points, including two goals. Goligoski could be out for as long as a month. ... Stars second-line LW Steve Ott sat out his sixth straight game with a hip pointer. ...The Panthers are 11-11-3 all time against the Stars. ... Forwards Scottie Upshall, Jack Skille and Mikael Samuelsson are all out for Florida with lower-body injuries. ' ' '