The Los Angeles Lakers looked to even their series with the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 2 on Thursday night, heading back to Crypto.com Arena on a high note.
Much like Game 1 though, that task was just too tall as the Thunder took care of business with a 125-107 win over the Lakers to maintain home-court advantage and take a 2-0 series lead.
The Thunder jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead in this one before Rui Hachimura and LeBron James got the Lakers on the board with back-to-back buckets. After a timeout, Hachimura further helped settle his team in with a corner triple.
Austin Reaves struggled greatly in Game 1, but he was aggressive early in this one and completed a three-point play. Outside of that though, he and the Lakers continued to struggle offensively in the first quarter. That is until they closed it with a 7-0 run, including a buzzer-beater by Hachimura, to cut their deficit to 27-23.
The Lakers were frustrated with the officials early in the second quarter, but they put that aside as Reaves and Luke Kennard heated up to take their first lead.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was called for his third foul, so the Lakers mostly were able to neutralize him in the first half. Ajay Mitchell helped pick up the slack, but L.A. was able to take a slim 58-57 lead into the halftime locker room.
Hachimura stayed hot as he begin the third quarter with another 3-pointer. Gilgeous-Alexander then picked up his fourth foul, which was upgraded to a Flagrant 1 after he elbowed Reaves. Alex Caruso also picked up a technical for arguing the call.
When Gilgeous-Alexander went to the bench though, his teammates picked him up in a big way. They hit a bunch of deep shots and also dominated the offensive glass. Meanwhile, the Lakers went ice cold and had some costly turnovers. The Thunder closed the third quarter on a 32-14 run to take control of the game, leading 93-80 at the end of the third quarter.
Despite that third quarter run, the Lakers were not demoralized as they came out and went on a 9-2 run of their own to begin the fourth.
Chet Holmgren, who has been great so far this series, hit a big triple to end the Lakers’ run and then Marcus Smart had a bad turnover. That kickstarted an 8-0 Thunder run as they regained control and never looked back.
Thunder vs. Lakers playoff schedule
Game 3: Saturday, May 9, Crypto.com Arena, 5:30 p.m. PT, ABC
Game 4: Monday, May 11, Crypto.com Arena, 7:30 p.m. PT, Prime
Game 5*: Wednesday, May 13, Paycom Center, TBD
Game 6*: Saturday, May 16, Crypto.com Arena, TBD
Game 7*: Monday, May 18, Paycom Center, TBD
*If necessary
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