The top-ranked Oklahoma City Thunder (63-16) started off their away stretch in Los Angeles against the injury-depleted Lakers (50-29) in a western conference matchup on Tuesday night.
While other teams are starting to manage their players’ minutes the Thunder are pushing hard every game with their best available players. They look to secure the one seed for the second season in a row and gain a narrow advantage over the San Antonio Spurs (60-19) in second place.
While these two teams are competing for the top seed, the Los Angeles Lakers (50-29) find themselves in a midfield battle for the three seed with the Denver Nuggets (51-28) and the Houston Rockets (50-29).These final few games are crucial, having major playoff implications.
Although the Lakers would love to clinch the third seed, they are without star guards Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves and with Lebron James’ age he is never guaranteed to play.
Last night, the Lakers only had two of their usual starters (Rui Hachimura and Deandre Ayton), but were competitive to start the game.
In the first quarter, forward Drew Timme who has bounced around from the G League and NBA this year, got off to a blistering start. Timme caught several pick and roll pocket passes and converted on tough floaters to give the Lakers some energy out of the gate. He also stretched the floor by putting in a three, and served as a primary floor general, as the Lakers were without a traditional point guard. He scored an impressive ten points in the quarter.
For the Thunder, reigning-MVP guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander opened up the first quarter by scoring 11 points and dishing out five assists. Big man Chet Holmgren was a solid presence inside, scoring with some tough finishes and grabbing three boards.
In the second quarter, guard Luke Kennard and forward Rui Hachimura were huge for the Lakers hitting multiple difficult floaters and jumpshots to keep the Lakers within reach going into halftime. Kennard would finish with ten points in the game and Hachimura would lead Los Angeles with a team high 15 to go along with five boards.
The Thunder were sharing the ball extremely well in the second, getting their role players involved. Guards Isaiah Joe and mid-season acquisition Jared McCain came out firing, hitting multiple threes. Oklahoma City’s depth has long been one of their strengths — they can beat you with their stars and role players. The half closed with the Thunder holding a 65-47 lead.
In the second half, things got away from the Lakers entirely, as the Thunder stretched out their lead to more than 20 points. Led by Gilgeous-Alexander and second year guard Ajay Mitchell the Thunder went into Crypto.Com arena and easily beat the decimated Lakers.
One of the few bright spots for the Lakers was guard Bronny James getting some valuable minutes and showing why he belongs in the NBA. He finished with four points and two assists, and he threw down an emphatic dunk in the third quarter. His performance follows dominance in the G-League, as the guard has averaged 15.6 points per game for the South Bay Lakers.
Although it was a brutal loss for the Lakers losing 123-87 they can only turn the page and look to get ready for their final few regular season games and the postseason. LeBron James will likely be back in the next game and they will need a big performance from him if they want to beat the Golden State Warriors (37-42) tonight.