After getting off to an impressive 8-3 start to the season, the Los Angeles Lakers faced their toughest test on Wednesday night when they traveled to take on the defending NBA Champion Oklahoma City Thunder.
Both teams were without stars in LeBron James and Jalen Williams, but it was the Thunder that didn’t skip a beat as they cruised to an easy 121-92 victory to drop the Lakers to 8-4.
Luka Doncic kicked off the scoring with a layup and then a deep 3, although the Thunder did what they do best and forced a couple of turnovers to get out in transition and take an early 17-10 lead after an 11-0 run.
Deandre Ayton ended the run with a three-point play, but the Lakers otherwise struggled offensively in the first quarter. Meanwhile, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got going towards the end of the quarter while the Lakers continued committing careless turnovers and trailed 30-18 as a result.
The start of the second quarter was more of the same as Oklahoma City opened it on a 10-3 run to force an L.A. timeout. Even with Gilgeous-Alexander on the bench, the Thunder were locked in defensively, which allowed them to get out in transition for more easy buckets.
It took the Lakers nearly eight minutes to make a field goal in the second quarter and when they did, it was a 3 by Marcus Smart to beat the shot clock. That didn’t put much of a dent though as the Thunder kept pouring it on and took a 70-38 lead into the locker room after the most dominant half imaginable.
With the Thunder outplaying them in every facet, something needed to change quickly if the Lakers wanted to get back in the game in the second half.
Unfortunately though, not much changed. Oklahoma City kept up its suffocating defense, forcing L.A. into bad turnovers and tough shots. Nothing was going the Lakers’ way as head coach JJ Redick called a timeout with the team trailing 88-52 late in the third quarter.
Redick gave the Lakers once more chance to try to figure something out and Doncic responded with a pair of buckets. They couldn’t get any stops though and the Thunder led 100-64 at the end of the third quarter.
At that point, both teams emptied their bench for nearly the entire fourth quarter with the game out of reach.
What’s next for the Lakers…
The Lakers will close out their road trip with a back-to-back, first against the New Orleans Pelicans in an Emirates NBA Cup group play game on Friday night and then against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in live shows, and more!
