The Oklahoma City Thunder lost their best player for the better part of the third quarter on Thursday night. They outscored the Los Angeles Lakers 32-15 without him anyway.
Chet Holmgren and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander each scored 22 points as the defending champion Thunder beat the Lakers, 125-107, to take a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference semifinal series. Ajay Mitchell added 20 points and Jared McCain contributed 18. Oklahoma City is now 6-0 in these playoffs.
Game 3 is Sunday in Los Angeles.
The Third Quarter Settled It for the Thunder
The game was genuinely competitive heading into the third quarter. Los Angeles held a 63-61 lead before a pivotal sequence changed everything.
Gilgeous-Alexander got tied up with Austin Reaves and was initially called for a fourth foul. Upon review, it was upgraded to a flagrant 1. Alex Caruso picked up a technical foul as the situation was being sorted out. Gilgeous-Alexander left the floor with the Lakers leading 65-61.
The Thunder proceeded to go on a 32-15 run without him.
Holmgren found a trailing Jaylin Williams on a fast break, Williams hit a three-pointer and drew the foul, converted the free throw, and Oklahoma City had the lead at 85-74 and the momentum entirely on their side. By the time Gilgeous-Alexander returned, the Thunder led 93-80 heading into the fourth. The Lakers cut it to 5 at one point in the fourth quarter before Oklahoma City pulled away again and finished it.
The Lakers’ Injury Problem Is Getting Worse
Los Angeles played without Luka Doncic—out indefinitely with a strained left hamstring—for the second consecutive game. They also lost Jarred Vanderbilt, who dislocated the pinkie finger on his right hand during Game 1‘s second quarter. Three Lakers players fouled out with 5 fouls, limiting their aggressiveness when they needed it most late in the game.
To their credit, the players who were available showed up. Reaves, who struggled in Game 1, bounced back with 31 points on 10-for-16 shooting—a genuine performance, not a consolation number. LeBron James followed his 27-point Game 1 with 23 more. Both men played well. The Thunder were simply better.
What the Series Looks Like
Oklahoma City is healthy, balanced, and deep. Against a Lakers team that is missing its best player and losing pieces with each passing game, the Thunder’s margin for error is growing wider rather than narrower. When Gilgeous-Alexander goes down for a quarter and the team outscores the opponent by 17, that is a statement about depth that most teams cannot make.
The series moves to Los Angeles for Games 3 and 4. The Lakers need to win at home, and they need their supporting cast to perform the way Reaves did on Thursday—but over four quarters, not three, and without three starters fouling into irrelevance.
Oklahoma City is 2-0. They are 6-0 in the postseason. They are the defending champions, and they are playing like it.
