Jogging in transition after a steal, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander navigated his way for a 14-foot left elbow pull-up jumper he swished.
Finally, after trailing for the entire game minus a brief 2-0 lead in the opening minute, the Oklahoma City Thunder were tied with the Los Angeles Lakers with 5:25 remaining.
Unfortunately for the Thunder, the Lakers steamrolled them, 14-9, in the final five minutes. The Lakers reached .500 for the first time this season as the Thunder lost, 116-111.
The Thunder dug themselves a hole early, trailing 41-25 following the first quarter. After trailing by as many as 17 points, the Thunder used the remainder of the game to play catch up.
“They got off to a really good start,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “We were probably a step slow, but they were really hot and played in a rhythm.”
The Thunder used a 67-52 scoring advantage in the middle quarters to cut the Lakers’ lead to one point entering the fourth quarter. After that, it was a back-and-forth duel before the Lakers pulled away late.
“The fight out of the team, on the second night of a back-to-back, when we fall into a hole like that,” Daigneault said. “It took us a while to get the game back under control and we just kinda kept fighting and clawed back into it.”
OKC’s starting backcourt led the way in this close loss. Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey each scored 27 points, with the latter tallying 17 rebounds.
Without LeBron James and D’Angelo Russell, Anthony Davis carried the Lakers to a critical win that gives them the tiebreaker over the Thunder — something that could definitely come in handy with how tight the standings are.
Using his size against the small Thunder, Davis finished with 37 points on 15-of-21 shooting and 15 rebounds. The 6-foot-10 multiyear All-Star got off to a flaming start with 15 first-quarter points on 6-of-7 shooting.
The Lakers kept going back to Davis with a mixture of lobs and post touches despite facing multiple defenders. He scored 30 points on 15-of-18 shooting inside of the paint.
Like Kawhi Leonard last game, the Thunder couldn’t contain the opposition’s best player in an important game.
“AD made some tough shots. He got hot — early on especially,” Giddey said.
The Lakers’ starting backcourt also played a key role in their win. Dennis Schroder finished with 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting and six assists — including 13 points in the fourth quarter. Austin Reaves finished with 11 points, nine assists and six rebounds.
Off the bench, Lonnie Walker IV scored 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting and 4-of-8 shooting from 3. Overall, the Lakers’ bench outscored the Thunder’s, 40-28.
After losing both games of this LA, the Thunder look to finish 2-2 on their four-game road trip as they travel to play the Portland Trail Blazers.
Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades.