The Oklahoma City Thunder took over the second half on Saturday to defeat the Los Angeles Lakers 131-108 and take a 3-0 series lead.
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The early portion of the game was shaky and slow, but the Thunder took advantage of the Lakers’ turnover issues and took a six-point advantage after 12 minutes.
Rui Hachimura was a life-saver for the Lakers in the first half, especially from beyond the arc. He kept up his hot shooting in the second quarter as the Lakers put together a strong scoring run.
They shifted the momentum in the second quarter to take a two-point halftime lead.
But the second half was an absolute nightmare for L.A.
Both LeBron James and Austin Reaves had cold nights and with Luka Doncic still sidelined with an injury, the supporting cast couldn’t bear the scoring load.
OKC won the possession game by a wide margin while shooting efficiently. The results was an 11-point lead heading into the fourth.
In the final frame, the Thunder continued to play nearly perfect basketball while L.A.’s glaring weaknesses were too much to overcome.
OKC’s lead grew to 27 at one point as the Thunder coasted to victory.
Ajay Mitchell erupted for OKC with 24 points and 10 assists on 10-of-17 shooting while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 23 points nine assists and four rebounds.
For the Lakers, Rui Hachimura had 21 points and five rebounds on 5-of-8 three-point shooting. James had 19 points, eight assists and six rebounds, but shot just 7-of-19.
James Parker is a sports writer for Ball Exclusives, follow him on X @TheJames_Parker
