Thunder push Lakers to brink

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — The Oklahoma City Thunder used another explosive second half to beat LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers 131-108 on Saturday, pushing the Lakers to the brink of elimination in the National Basketball Association (NBA) playoffs.

Ajay Mitchell scored 24 points and handed out 10 assists without a turnover to help the Thunder take a 3-0 stranglehold on the best-of-seven Western Conference semi-final series.

The Lakers will host Game Four on Monday trying to become the first NBA team to rally from 3-0 down to win a playoff series.

“I’m not giving up on this series,” defiant Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “We’re going to try to win on Monday. We’re going to try to extend the series and we’re going to try to take this thing back to OKC.”