The Los Angeles Lakers’ second-round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder has been a tale of two halves through three games. In the first halves, the Lakers have hung with the Thunder, only being outscored by five total points in three games and leading going into the locker room in both Games 2 and 3.
The second halves has been a completely different story, however, as the Lakers have been outscored by 54 total points to get blown out in all three games. In fact, the Lakers have made history in the last two games, just not in a good way.
The Lakers are the first team in NBA history to lead at the half in back-to-back playoff games but lose both by a combined 40+ points.
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) May 10, 2026
The Thunder not only have star power, but they also have plenty of depth, which allows them to stay fresh and play hard for a full 48 minutes. That is something the Lakers have struggled with all season, but especially in the playoffs when they are without their top player in Luka Doncic.
While the Lakers have hung tough in the first half of all three games, they have gotten blitzed by the Thunder in every third quarter and there seemingly is nothing they can do about it. JJ Redick has thrown a lot of different looks and schemes at the Thunder, but once they lock in defensively and start forcing the Lakers into turnovers, Oklahoma City is able to take control and not look back every single time.
LeBron James discusses Lakers’ third-quarter struggles
LeBron James discussed what has went wrong for the Lakers in the third quarters of these games and in Game 3, he believes it came down to a lack of energy.
“Well, I mean obviously the third quarter, we’ll start with that,” he said. “We didn’t have the energy, the effort and they put a thirty-plus point quarter on us. That kinda took care of the game right there, honestly. We had moments, obviously in the first half, that was really good for us.
“We did a good job of sharing the ball and knocking down shots. But that third quarter, we didn’t knock down shots. We didn’t defend or get stops, I would say. We defended, we didn’t get stops, and it allowed them to kind of take control of the game.”
Maybe a younger version on James would be able to keep up for 48 minutes, but at his age that is nearly impossible, especially with his co-star not in the lineup.
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