Chet Holmgren had 24 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 108-90 home win over the Los Angeles Lakers to open their second-round playoff series on Tuesday.
The Thunder remained undefeated in the playoffs, taking a 1-0 advantage in the series after opening the postseason with a sweep of Phoenix.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Ajay Mitchell added 18 points each in the win.
After dropping a pair of blowout losses to Oklahoma City late in the regular season, the Lakers were still within striking distance in this one into the fourth quarter.
But early in the fourth, Jared McCain hit back-to-back 3-pointers to extend the Thunder lead to 19 and start putting the game away.
McCain, a trade deadline acquisition, scored 12 points off the bench as Oklahoma City’s reserves outscored Los Angeles’ 34-15.
The Lakers’ 90 points were their fewest in a postseason game since 2021.
As time went down in the third quarter, the Lakers swarmed Gilgeous-Alexander with a trio of defenders.
In the closing moments of the third quarter, Gilgeous-Alexander found Isaiah Hartenstein, who quickly fed to Mitchell. Mitchell hit a 3-pointer from the wing through contact, then hit the free throw to finish off a four-point play and send the Thunder into the fourth quarter leading by 12 after Los Angeles had trimmed the deficit to as low as four earlier in the quarter.
LeBron James got out to a quick start offensively, scoring 10 of the Lakers’ first 16 points.
James finished with 27 points in the loss, while Rui Hachimura scored 18 and DeAndre Ayton had 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Austin Reeves, who was injured against the Thunder late in the regular season and returned late in the Lakers’ first-round series vs. Houston, finished with just eight points on 3-of-16 shooting.
About midway through the second quarter, Los Angeles’ Jarred Vanderbilt hit his right hand on the corner of the backboard while trying to defend a Holmgren dunk.
Vanderbilt went down, grabbing the hand, and soon went to the locker room and did not return.
Though James added plenty of scoring, he didn’t record his first rebound until the final minute of the third quarter. He finished with six assists and four rebounds.
–Field Level Media
