In the eyes of Lakers coach JJ Redick, every team his group faces is a test. Still, many wondered if the Lakers’ litmus test would come from facing the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night.
Even with All-Star and league most valuable player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander out with a strained abdominal, the Thunder are still a problem for most of the league. And the Lakers had to play OKC with their own MVP candidate, Luka Doncic, sitting out for the second straight game with a left hamstring strain.
In the end, it came down to the Lakers not being able to hold off the champion Thunder in the decisive fourth quarter of a 119-110 loss at Crypto.com Arena.
The Lakers (32-19) had six players score in double figures, but the Thunder had seven.
The Lakers shot 50% from the field, but the Thunder shot 48.3% from the field and 42.4% from three-point range.
“I think when you play the best teams, and Oklahoma City is clearly, you know they’re the best team, you have to have a really high level of effort, and you have to have a really high level of execution,” Redick said.
LeBron James had 22 points, 10 assists and six rebounds, Marcus Smart had 19 points, Austin Reaves 16 off the bench, Jake LaRavia 14 and Rui Hachimura and Jaxon Hayes both had 12 points.
“You want me to compare us to them?” James responded to a question about the gap between Lakers and Thunder. “That’s a championship team right there, we’re not. We can’t sustain energy and effort for 48 minutes and they can. That’s why they won a championship.”
Thunder guard Kenrich Williams is double teamed by Luke Kennard and Jarred Vanderbilt in the first half.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Reaves gave the Lakers a 99-98 lead on a drive to the basket in the fourth quarter.
But the Thunder just kept coming back, taking a 109-101 lead by outscoring the Lakers 11-2.
The Lakers, too, kept fighting back, getting to within 113-110 on a Hachimura basket.
But Jalen Williams, who had 23 points in his return to the lineup, kept scoring for the Thunder, making a field goal, two free throws with 35.9 seconds left and two more with 20.9 seconds left that sealed the game.
“You’re playing against the best team in the NBA, and they’ve got more depth there, as much depth as anybody,” Redick said. “They got just a bunch of guys that can hurt you.”
Reaves provided the fans with a big-time highlight, driving down the lane and throwing down a two-handed dunk on Jaylin Williams and Aaron Wiggins to end the first quarter.
But Reaves grew frustrated in the third quarter when a foul wasn’t called on one of his drives. He argued too much and was given a technical foul by referee Eric Dalen with two minutes and 13 seconds left in the third.
After the game, after Reaves had gone six-for-14 from the field but just one-for-five from three-point line, he lamented getting the tech.
“I think I just got frustrated when I didn’t get the foul call,” Reaves said. “Got the tech, let that kind of get to me a little bit. But yeah, it was just thought it was obvious. I told Eric. He was the closest ref. If it was anybody else, I’d have said the same thing to em. I just didn’t know how all three of them could miss that. So, I was just a little frustrated after that and couldn’t get back in the flow.”
The Lakers had 20 turnovers the last time they played at Oklahoma City in a game L.A. got down by as much as 37 points before losing by 29.
So, one point of emphasis for the Lakers was taking care of the basketball.
They had 10 turnovers in the first half but just five in the second half.
The Lakers did not turn the ball over in the fourth quarter, but they shot just 38.1% from the field in the final 12 minutes, finding it difficult to score against the Thunder’s tough defense.
“Yeah, they play the game the right way,” Reaves said. “I would say 95% of the time they then make the right play, make the right read, like you said, and put stress on your defense rotations. I thought we did a pretty good job. They made a couple tough shots. That’s why they’re probably the best team in the league.”