Well, that wasn’t a particularly encouraging loss.
Despite facing a Thunder team coming off a week of rest, the Lakers were the ones who looked out of sorts for most of Tuesday’s Game 1 loss. While they didn’t trail by 30 at halftime — an improvement over the last two trips to Oklahoma City — it never really felt like they were in the game in the second half.
That is despite closing the gap to single digits numerous times. But each one of those runs was answered immediately by OKC, which not only had
the solutions to what the Lakers threw at them but also had different players step up throughout the night.
The Lakers, meanwhile, were out of viable options two injuries ago. Now, they also have to figure out what to do with Jarred Vanderbilt’s spot in the rotation after his nasty injury in the second quarter.
Let’s take a look at the three biggest takeaways from Tuesday…
The Austin Reaves conundrum
Austin Reaves was bad on Tuesday. There is no debate or conundrum there. In fact, it was one of the worst performances by a Laker in the playoffs in decades.
But this is a situation with plenty of nuance.
For one, the Lakers can’t win this series if he isn’t playing at an All-Star level. For much of this game, the Lakers were hanging around despite Reaves having one of the worst games of his career. Even an average game from him in this one would have made it a far more interesting contest.
At the same time, you can understand why Reaves isn’t playing well. There isn’t much more of a “thrown in the fire” situation than being put into two closeout games against the Rockets and then a series against the defending champions. He clearly doesn’t have his legs under him and is being forced to catch up on the fly.
Even when he was healthy, this was a defense and team Reaves struggled against. In three regular season games, he shot 42.9% from the field, 23.1% from three and had nearly as many turnovers (14) and made field goals (15).
The Lakers need Reaves to be better. It’s an incredible tall ask, but if he can’t get back to his regular season form, this is going to be a short series.
Not enough horses
LeBron James was fantastic tonight from the get-go. There was no feeling out for him in Game 1 as he was aggressive out of the gate, helped the Lakers jump out to an early lead and finished with 27 points on 12-17 shooting.
Rui Hachimura added 18 points on 7-13 shooting and 3-6 shooting from range, making it his 12th straight game of shooting over 50% from three. He continues to rise to the occasion in the playoffs.
However, after that, the Lakers lacked offensive firepower. Deandre Ayton was alright in his 27 minutes with 10 points as foul trouble limited his action. Reaves, as we discussed, was way off the mark. Marcus Smart was 4-15 and can not be relied upon for any level of consistent offense.
The Lakers’ bench, meanwhile, has been a liability all season. Only in the stretch where Rui serves as the sixth man did the team have any level of regular production from it’s reserves.
Compare that to the Thunder, who seemingly have an endless supply of role players who can step up. The Lakers made it their mission to limit Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, so you saw Chet Holmgren (24 points), Ajay Mitchell (18), and Jared McCain (12) step up at various points. Alex Caruso, Isaiah Hartenstein and Lu Dort had various big moments and plays as well.
Part of this is the Lakers being limited by injuries. But the difference in depth between these two teams is stark. The Thunder have different players they can turn to each night while the Lakers simply do not have the horses to keep up.
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Mixing up the rotation
You don’t want to overreact too much to one game, but the Lakers’ bench woes are not unique to Game 1 of this series.
Jaxson Hayes’ spot is pretty locked in as the backup center. But Luke Kennard is now on his fourth game running with seven points or fewer. Jake LaRavia had a good Game 6 but, otherwise, has struggled these playoffs, particularly offensively. And now Vando seems likely to miss at least some time.
So, does Redick look to mix things up a bit in Game 2? Bronny James provided nice minutes in the Houston series. Maxi Kleber could step into Vando’s minutes and give LA a two-big look. If you really want to get spicy, Adou Thiero is the only other athletic wing on the bench. Or Nick Smith Jr. could get some run to see if he’s got the shot going.
The Lakers have now gone four straight games without reaching 100 points. They are 1-3 in those contests. There needs to be some level of change. It’s not guaranteed to fix anything, but the Lakers can’t keep trotting out the same rotation hoping for different results.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.
