The Los Angeles Lakers visit the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday. Tipoff is at 8:30 p.m. ET. Listen to the live radio broadcast or watch the live stream via the links provided below.
Oklahoma City (17-4) has won all but one of their last 10 games. The return of Russell Westbrook has boosted the team with his speed, scoring and dynamic playmaking-ability; he's averaging 21.2 points and 6.4 assists per game.
Kevin Durant, meanwhile, is already in contention for another scoring title. His 28.4 points per game makes him the NBA's leading scorer so far, comfortably sitting ahead of second-place Carmelo Anthony (25.6). Despite his and Westbrook's impressive numbers, Durant knows their record is the result of a team effort.
"We put our mind set every time we set out on defense first and on the team first," Durant said, via ESPN. "That's what we have been doing. We have (been) putting everything aside. We put our individual stats, shots, rebounds, and assists aside. We are grinding our system offensively and defensively.
"We have to just keep it up. We just have to have that mindset where we can't let anything distract us from what we want to do in the game."
The Lakers, meanwhile, can move back to .500 with a win on Friday. Los Angeles (10-11) received a boost with Kobe Bryant's return, but injuries to other plays have once again depleted the Lakers' roster.
Steve Blake, who was averaging 9.8 points and 7.7 assists per game, became the latest Laker to be sidelined with an injury; he's out for at least six weeks with an elbow injury, according to ESPN. Los Angeles is also still without Steve Nash and Jordan Farmar.
Bryant will act as the 1-guard on Friday, an added responsibility as he continues to regain form after suffering his season-ending Achilles injury in April.
"It's a process," Bryant said of his recovery. "You just continue to figure out what you can and can't do. Every game, you try to step up and do a little bit more and just go from there."
Listen to the live radio broadcast HERE (LAL) and HERE (OKC), or watch the live stream HERE.
