The Thunder had a four-game winning streak snapped Monday night when the Los Angeles Lakers beat them 112-105. LaBron James scored 25 points and Anthony Davis scored 27 points and grabbed 15 boards.
It was in the fourth quarter that the Lakers beat the Thunder. D’Angelo Russell scored 14 points and had seven assists. LA had only won six of their previous 18 games, and two of those wins were against Oklahoma City.
James stated, “When we have high-assist games and guys are in a rhythm, it’s a pretty good game for us.” “We need to take a look at this and be more steady with that.”
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Oklahoma City scored 16 of his 24 points in the first half, even though his right knee was hurt. The Thunder scored the fewest points in 19 games since December 6. For the Thunder, two of their four losses in their last 16 games were due to the Lakers.
Chet Holmgren and Josh Giddey both had bad games for the Thunder and only scored 17 points between them. Jalen Williams got 25 points. They had the first of four important games against some of the best teams in the West. OKC also plays the Clippers and the Timberwolves, who are in first place in their conference, on their road trip.
“I thought they had a good plan,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “They planned and carried out the game well.” It was their right to win. A lot of the time, we missed the ball. We couldn’t get into a good run and score. We can improve since it wasn’t our best game. It was partly their fault and partly ours.
Since the start of the season, James has been hurt and missed four games. He scored 17 points in the second half. He made a driving layup with 8:53 left in the game, giving Los Angeles its first lead of 10 points or more, 93-82.
The Thunder were only six points behind when Gilgeous-Alexander sunk the ball with 2:05 left. But with 50 seconds left, James drove the lane and threw the ball to Davis, who made a two-handed slam that pretty much sealed the win.
Davis said, “We’ve played together for five years.” I think LeBron can pass the ball well. That’s how we feel about each other. The game took a lot of time, blood, and sweat to make so that we could bond.
From now on, the Lakers won’t have to leave Los Angeles for two weeks. Davis said over the weekend that these six games are very important for their hopes of making the playoffs. Since winning the first In-Season Tournament in early December, they’ve been having a hard time. They’ve been sick a lot and can’t get better or find trustworthy third-party scores to help James and Davis.
Davis stated, “I think it starts with us on defense to make that push.” It seems like our team does well on defense, and when we do well on defense, we often win games.
Cam Reddish couldn’t play because his knee was sore. Russell and Austin Reaves were put back into the game by the Lakers, and both of them scored 15 points.
Because Davis was too busy and Holmgren got called for fouls early on, the Lakers had 64 points to 44 points in the paint.
He went on, “The Lakers have size all over the court and good athleticism.” “They’re going to be tough, so you need to hit them back when they hit you.” They will try to punch you if you let them if you don’t.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver went to the game the day before a news conference that was meant to take place at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, which is still not finished for the Los Angeles Clippers. At that meeting, it might be said that the NBA All-Star weekend of 2026 will take place there.