It was deja vu all over again for the Lakers on Saturday as they battled early, led at halftime and lost in a blowout to the Thunder in Game 3, 131-108. LA now trails the series 3-0.
The purple and gold used red-hot shooting in the first half to hold a 59-57 lead at the break. But just as they did in the two prior games, OKC turned it up to a level in the second half that the Lakers couldn’t match.
Ajay Mitchell took over in the fourth to bury a clearly exhausted LA side, who looked out of gas and
out of answers.
The Thunder jumped to a quick lead. Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein combined for eight points. LA responded by tying the game behind Rui Hachimura and Marcus Smart 3-pointers. LeBron James and Deandre Ayton both had two points as well.
OKC was winning the points in the paint battle early, 10-4.
Austin Reaves was off to a slow start, missing all four of his shot attempts. Hachimura, however, continued his incredible shooting from behind the arc, draining yet another triple. Los Angeles was struggling mightily on defense, leaving shooters wide open and giving players easy paths to the rim.
At the 3:57 mark, the Thunder were up by seven.
Cason Wallace splashed two 3-pointers that helped OKC get a double-digit lead. Hachimura nailed another three as well, giving him nine points for the game so far. The purple and gold cut the deficit to six at the end of the first.
Luke Kennard and Reaves both knocked down 3-pointers early in the second quarter. Jared McCain’s instant offense continued with a triple of his own.
Holmgren had an easy time making shots in the paint, scoring six more points. LeBron and Hachimura both knocked down 3-pointers, forcing an OKC timeout.
LeBron tied the game with a 3-pointer out of the break. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander responded with a triple on the other end before LA responded to jump ahead by four. SGA helped erase that deficit fast, but the Lakers held on to lead by two at halftime.
Lu Dort opened the third period with a 3-pointer for the Thunder. Deandre Ayton responded on the other end with a shot in the paint. The offense was strong for both teams, as they traded baskets until OKC went up by seven.
Ayton had been keeping Los Angeles in it with six points in this quarter.
Oklahoma City was on an 11-2 scoring run. The Lakers started piling the turnovers and were now at 12 for the game. LeBron stopped some of the bleeding with a midrange jumper.
Kennard and Hachimura combined for five points to help keep the team in it.
The Thunder kept hitting back at full force, keeping their lead in double figures with 3:11 left in the quarter. Reaves was up to five turnovers. Marcus Smart and Adou Thiero put in great minutes to make it a single-digit deficit until Isaiah Joe responded with back-to-back threes, which gave Oklahoma City a lead of 11 at the end of the third.
Hartenstein had two easy opportunities in the paint for four quick points to start the final frame. LeBron scored four points, trying to help the Lakers inch closer to make it a game, but they still had an uphill climb as they were down by 12.
Oklahoma City’s offense was proving to be too much again as LA just didn’t have enough to firepower to match the Thunder’s depth, led by Ajay Mitchell. The Thunder blew the game open, as they did in the preceding games, before the two sides emptied their benches in the final minutes
Key Player Stats
LeBron finished with 19 points, six rebounds and eight assists. Hachimura ended with 21 points, five rebounds and four assists. Reaves pitched in with 17 points and nine assists.
Kennard had 18 points off the bench. Ayton logged 10 points with six rebounds. Smart scored 10 points with three rebounds. Adou Thiero played rotation minutes and had a chaotic outing, finishing with four points and eight rebounds in 13 minutes.
Game 4 will be on Monday against the Oklahoma City Thunder at 7:30 PM PT.
You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.
