Desperate for wins as the regular season winds down, the Los Angeles Lakers faced a tough road test on Sunday afternoon as they traveled to take on the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Thunder have already locked up the No. 1 seed in the West, and the Lakers certainly played like the more desperate team as they cruised to a 126-99 victory in what was a statement win.
It was the centers that kicked off the scoring in this one with Isaiah Hartenstein and Jaxson Hayes getting the initial buckets for their teams. Then, the superstars got involved with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic making their first shots.
Doncic had two early triples and then after Dorian Finney-Smith got in on the action, the Lakers took a 19-15 lead.
It was all Doncic in the first quarter with 14 points. After a pair of triples by Gabe Vincent and a layup by LeBron James to end it, L.A. took a 42-32 lead into the second.
The Lakers continued to pour it on with seven straight points to begin the second quarter. Austin Reaves began to heat up with back-to-back triples and then James hit one, extending the lead to 20.
Oklahoma City had a response from there with seven straight points, forcing a quick Lakers timeout. L.A. regained control out of the timeout, however, with Finney-Smith and Doncic burying back-to-back 3s.
Doncic was doing whatever he wanted offensively, beating the Thunder off the dribble and creating open looks for his teammates. After leading by as many as 29, the Lakers let go of the rope a bit but still took a 78-56 lead into the halftime locker room. The 78 points were a season-high for the Lakers in a half with them shooting 15-of-22 from deep as a team.
The Lakers came out a bit sloppy to begin the third quarter, but the Thunder couldn’t really capitalize. Reaves helped get his team back on track with a triple though and then Doncic continued his dominant performance.
L.A.’s hot shooting didn’t slow down with Finney-Smith and Vincent each hitting corner 3s. James hit a fadeaway midrange to end the third and the Lakers were cruising with a 103-77 lead.
The Thunder began the final quarter with a 6-2 spurt, which forced a quick timeout by the Lakers to keep things under control. That served its purpose as James responded with a steal and a dunk and then Hachimura hit another triple to effectively put the game out of reach.
What’s next for the Lakers…
The Lakers have a difficult schedule to close out the regular season and that continues with another matchup against the Thunder on Tuesday before Luka Doncic’s return to Dallas for the first time to play the Mavericks on Wednesday.
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!
