OKLAHOMA CITY — With the Los Angeles Lakers in town for the first time this season, the usual aura that surrounds them was notably absent.
Not having LeBron James, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Anthony Davis will do that. Even with the lack of star power, it was an entertaining, back-and-forth game that saw the Oklahoma City Thunder fall to the Lakers, 123-117.
The game featured seven lead changes and seven ties with neither team leading by more than 13 points.
“I thought we really competed tonight for the most part,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “Played really hard for much of the game. Bounced back a couple of times (and) weathered a couple of runs and just kept ourselves in it. … I was just impressed by the compete level of the team tonight. I thought we brought it from a competitive standpoint.”
The loss extended the Thunder’s losing streak to a season-high-tying five games as they still seek their first post-All-Star break win.
Without their top-three scoring leaders, the Lakers relied on the whistle to generate a lot of their points as they went 31-of-39 (79.5%) from the free-throw line — a significant advantage over OKC’s 18-of-24 (75%) night.
This included a 14-of-18 fourth-quarter that saw several questionable calls at the end rile up both the home crowd and the Thunder.
“They shot 39 free throws. If you look at the last couple (calls), if that’s the bar for what a foul is in an NBA basketball game, then I thought (Josh Giddey), Jalen Williams, (Lu) Dort (could’ve received more calls) — they have size and so people tend to bounce off them a little more — but illegal contact is illegal contact,” Daigneault said. “If the standard that was applied down the stretch that game was applied throughout it, I thought they could have had a big night. The officials aren’t perfect and that’s not the expectation. All we’re asking for is fairness and consistency”
Someone who did receive some timely calls was former Thunder guard Dennis Schroder, who led the way for the Lakers with 26 points on 8-of-18 shooting and 7-of-8 shooting from the free-throw line. Troy Brown Jr. and Austin Reaves each scored 19 points as well.
Without their star duo in James and Davis, the Lakers’ role players stepped up and earned a critical win to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Besides the free-throw line, the Lakers also weaponized the three-ball against the Thunder. The Lakers shot 16-of-35 (45.7%) from 3 — meanwhile, the Thunder went 11-of-40 (27.5%) from 3.
For the Thunder, they caught fire but eventually cooled off. The Thunder started off 7-of-12 (58.3%) from 3 but went 4-of-28 (14.3%) the rest of the way.
With this loss and their general play since the All-Star break, the Thunder are in front of a fork in the road.
The Thunder are 2.5 games back in the reverse standings for the fifth-best lottery odds and 2.5 games back from the 10th spot in the actual standings. How the second half of this six-game homestand plays out will reveal a lot.
Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades.