NBA Score: Los Angeles Lakers Star Nick Young Hits Game Winning Shot To Beat Oklahoma City Thunder

Throughout his career in the NBA, Nick Young has attempted a handful of game winning shots. Up until Tuesday night, he had yet to hit one. That changed, which only adds on to his career resurrecting season. The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder by a score of 111-109, as reported by ESPN.

Highlights: @NickSwagyPYoung hits the game winner with 5 seconds left to give the Lakers the win over the Thunder. pic.twitter.com/nTJKHjndcg

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) November 23, 2016

Over the summer, the belief around the NBA was that Nick Young would no longer be a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. He had long been known as a selfish player who was just looking for his own shots. Young also had issues with D’Angelo Russell that threatened to ruin the chemistry of the team after a backstage incident where the latter had secretly recorded the former while discussing infidelity.

The fear of being released from the Los Angeles Lakers and no longer being able to hang out in southern California as an NBA star, Nick Young decided to turn things around. He has now become a stable veteran presence for a young roster, something that was hard to fathom.

Against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Nick Young also became a game winner. Since he does not fear the big shots, the Los Angeles Lakers now have someone to close out games.

With Kevin Durant now with the Golden State Warriors, the belief was that Russell Westbrook was going to have to carry the entire burden if he wanted to get back to the NBA Playoffs. That was quite evident in the fourth quarter when the dynamic guard went on quite the scoring spree. The Los Angeles Lakers simply could not prevent him from scoring at will but were able to overcome the offensive burst.

Russell Westbrook has scored at least 30 points in six consecutive games, and the team has struggled to win, so Steven Adams felt the urge to help out on the offensive side of the court. More known for defense and rebounding, the Oklahoma City Thunder starting center chipped in with 20 points. That is not something that is going to happen on a nightly basis.

Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Billy Donovan attempted to use size to his advantage against the smaller Los Angeles Lakers squad that normally likes to attack from the perimeter. Joffrey Lauvergne and Enes Kanter were given a combined 42 minutes off the bench to go with the 31 minutes that was given to Steven Adams. This is a strategy that Donovan toyed with in the NBA Playoffs last season.

Los Angeles Lakers starting power forward Julius Randle has been struggling with a hip injury. He attempted to fight through the pain so that he could play against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The versatile 6-foot-9 big man struggled with just three points, so it might have been better had Randle just sat out for the evening.

With the Oklahoma City Thunder leaning on their big men more so than normal, the Los Angeles Lakers had to counter by giving 31 minutes to Timofey Mozgov. The former Cleveland Cavaliers backup center rewarded Luke Walton with 16 points on six of 10 shooting. Mozgov only pulled down three rebounds, which is much less than what you would expect from a starting front court player in the NBA.

Louis Williams and Jordan Clarkson are proving to be quite the weapon for the Los Angeles Lakers. The veteran guards combined for 31 points, which helped to counter the scoring production from Russell Westbrook. The Lakers are going to need them to remain consistent for the rest of the season if they want to shock the critics and sneak into the NBA Playoffs.

[Featured Image by Harry How/Getty Images]