The Los Angeles Lakers faced off against the OKC Thunder in a tricky afternoon matchup today and walked out with a 126-99 win. This was a shocking outcome, with many expecting the Thudner to beat the struggling Lakers easily, but the OKC fans in the Paycom Center instead saw their home team get blown out by 27 points.
Luka Doncic overcame recent struggles to lead the Lakers with 30 points (11-20 FG), seven rebounds, and six assists. Austin Reaves contributed 20 points (7-15 FG), while LeBron James had 19 points (9-16 FG) and seven assists. Dorian Finney-Smith had 14 points (4-5 FG) and seven rebounds off the bench, with Gabe Vincent adding 12 points (4-7 FG).
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander failed to prove to fans he’s better than Doncic with 26 points (12-23 FG) and nine assists. No other OKC player scored even 20 points, with Jalen Williams putting up 16 points (4-14 FG) with six rebounds and three steals. Chet Holmgren was the only other Thunder to reach double digits with 10 points (4-6 FG).
Let’s take a deeper look at some of the major takeaways from this clash.
The Lakers’ Red-Hot Offense Couldn’t Be Stopped
The Lakers had the great fortune of having one of their best offensive nights of the season against the Thunder tonight. While the Lakers have enjoyed mixed fortunes when it comes to accuracy as a jump-shooting team, it didn’t matter today as they were shining shots at a ridiculous clip.
The Lakers went 46-84 (54.8 FG%) during the win, shooting a ridiculous 22-40 (55.0 3P%) from beyond the arc. This production on itself can be unbeatable, but the Thunder didn’t really have any offensive response of their own, falling to crack even 100 points by going 39-90 (43.4 FG%) and 12-37 (32.4 3P%) from three.
There were no major roster absences from OKC, who clearly wanted to ensure this win fell into their lap. However, JJ Redick drew up an innovative offensive gameplan for the Lakers, which the Thunder simply had no response for. Despite being forced into 15 turnovers by OKC’s aggressive defense, the Lakers maximized their offensive performances to the absolute highest level they could to seal this win.
Lakers Big Three Destroys Defenses
The Lakers’ big three of Luka Doncic, LeBron James, and Austin Reaves have had a mixed bag of results since becoming teammates. Reaves has elevated his game this season to earn a spot as the team’s third star behind Doncic and LeBron, who are arguably two of the highest IQ players in NBA history, who are trying to figure out how to best maximize each other.
The one way they’re able to maximize their on-ball advantage is by making defensive rotations completely pointless. Doncic and James are such creative passers and see the entire floor with perfect clarity, so they can dot the perfect passes to their teammates in the best positions. That’s what was happening today, especially with the 8-12 shooting role-players Dorian Finney-Smith and Gabe Vincent combined for.
The OKC’s league-best defense did make it hard for players like Doncic and LeBron to attack and score in one-on-one situations. However, the IQ of these players is just as incredible as their skills. So, the ball will find its way to an open teammate when the help defense comes, or the stars just score and move along.
OKC’s First Consecutive Losses Of The Season
For the first time in this long 2024-25 NBA season, the OKC Thunder have lost two games in a row. That’s quite insane, as it proves how elite the Thunder has been as a squad since the first game of the season. After picking up 11 straight wins recently, OKC fell to a 111-125 loss top the No. 2 seed OKC Thunder on Friday before losing to the Lakers tonight.
From ambitions of picking up 70 wins this season to losing two straight games has to be disorienting for the Thunder. They’ve secured their spot as the No. 1 seed in the West and will likely end the season with the best overall record in the NBA, but they’ll imbibe some troubling lessons after this contest.
Their defense had major holes poked into them, as the Lakers used their on-ball activity against them to tire them out and create open opportunities on the move, which were impossible to stop. The Thunder played into an inferior team’s gameplan and had no response, which is a very interesting fact given we’re just about two weeks away from the Playoffs.
