In a game in which the Oklahoma City Thunder could not hit a 3, they went old school to get the 105-86 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Smash the paint. Get to the free throw line. Play strong defense.
By making 32 of 36 free throws and getting some fortune with the Lakers also not getting their shots to fall, the Thunder took a lead early and pulled away late.
They got back into the win column after an overtime loss to the Denver Nuggets on Monday. Head coach Billy Donovan said they fixed issues that plagued them against the Nuggets and focused on small details.
“Overall I thought there was a huge difference between really trying to defend without fouling, not trying to give up second chance opportunities to such a big team like Denver and now the Lakers,” he said in a Zoom call after the game.
“And then the other part was, can we play with pace and generate good shots because they’re an elite defensive team? I think our guys really focused on those things going into the game.”
Lu Dort and Andre Roberson played strong defense on LeBron James, holding him to 19 points on 7-for-18 shooting and pressuring him full-court often.
Anthony Davis, meanwhile, only made three field goals and totaled nine points.
Around them, shots weren’t falling. The Lakers only hit five of 37 3-pointers.
Every time Los Angeles would start to make a comeback, the Thunder would hold on and pull away.
Late in the third quarter, Oklahoma City went up by 20 before James re-entered and led Los Angeles to seven straight points, eventually cutting the Thunder lead to 10 after a minute into the fourth quarter.
“You knew they were going to make a run,” head coach Billy Donovan said. “Against good teams, you have to be able to (make a push) … Look at us the other night against Denver, up by seven with 3:30 or 3:40 to go.”
Wednesday night was different than that overtime loss Monday. Steven Adams got a 3-point play. Then Chris Paul hit a 3, one of just five the Thunder hit as a team. Then Adams got back to the free throw line.
Four minutes into the fourth quarter, Oklahoma City had pulled its lead back up to 19. It would get no closer than 12 again.
“Leads are not necessarily safe, and thing happen very quickly,” Donovan said. “You have to be able to answer and stop momentum.”
Adams briefly went down with what looked to be a leg injury, but he returned in a big way for the Thunder. The center finished with 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting and had seven rebounds.
“We just tried to take advantage of their overages and get a lot of paint touches,” Adams said. “They started playing small, they started playing, I think it was Markieff (Morris) on me.”
Paul had 21 points on 66.7% shooting to go with seven rebounds and six assists.
Lu Dort scored 14 points and went 6-for-6 from the free throw line, and Danilo Gallinari, the only Thunder player to make multiple 3-pointers had 19 points and made all seven free throws he attempted.
In limiting the Lakers’ transition game and holding them to just 35% shooting, the Thunder got a win and kept pace with the Houston Rockets and Utah Jazz in the middle of the playoff pack.
“It’s a team effort,” Dort said. “Sometimes the offense not going to go always well, so we gotta rely on our defense. I felt like the group of guys we have on the floor are doing a really good job playing defense.”
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