The Los Angeles Lakers put forth not only their best overall performance of the season on Sunday afternoon, but maybe the most impressive performance any team has had as they dominated the Oklahoma City Thunder on the road. A 27-point road win over the top team in the West sends a message to the rest of the league, and ESPN analyst Shannon Sharpe believes that is exactly what happened.
Sharpe has long been one of the biggest fans and supporters of LeBron James and the Lakers and he has continually expressed confidence that they will come out on top against any team in the West this year and make a run to the NBA Finals. So following that performance, Sharpe was ecstatic to speak on what that game said about the Lakers.
On the latest episode of First Take on ESPN, Sharpe had a lot of fun bragging about the Lakers win and said the rest of the league is in ‘a heap of trouble’ after that big victory:
"Boy, y'all are in a heap of trouble."@ShannonSharpe is ecstatic after the Lakers' win over the Thunder
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— First Take (@FirstTake) April 7, 2025
Sharpe’s loud personality was on full display and rightfully so as the Lakers were dominant from the beginning and never let up. Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves were all excellent and the Lakers got big contributions once again from Dorian Finney-Smith and Gabe Vincent off the bench as the Lakers knocked down 22 3-pointers as a team against an elite Thunder defense.
And it wasn’t just the offense that was clicking as the Lakers held the Thunder to just 99 points 43.3% shooting from the field. After a 32 point first quarter, Oklahoma City didn’t score more than 24 points in any other quarter and the Lakers outrebounded the Thunder by nine.
It was a performance that showed the Lakers’ ceiling is very high when they are firing on all cylinders. And if they can maintain this level through the playoffs then Sharpe’s famous “Lakers in 5” will ring true.
Austin Reaves happy with Lakers’ performance vs. Thunder
The magnitude of this win was not lost on the Lakers themselves either as they understood picking up a victory like that is huge for their momentum heading into the playoffs.
Austin Reaves spoke on how big it was after the game and hoping to carry that momentum over into Tuesday’s rematch. Reaves added that with how close the standings are in the West, the Lakers needed that victory.
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Los Angeles Lakers(96) - Minnesota Timberwolves(103)
