LOS ANGELES — Oklahoma City is relentless.
The Lakers did not roll over after being down 0-3 in their series, they came out with a game plan and energy, got an early spark from Austin Reaves, and led by five after 12 minutes. When they got down double digits in the third quarter, they fought back again to take the lead.
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Give the Lakers credit, they were not the 76ers. They showed up and showed resilience.
“I thought there were two different times during the game where our team could have gave in, could let go the rope,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “We didn’t.”
But the Thunder are relentless.
With the game tied with 49 seconds left, Oklahoma City closed the game on a 6-1 run to pull away for a 115-110 victory, completing their sweep of Los Angeles.
The Thunder remain undefeated in these playoffs, 8-0, and now will have at least close to a week off (and maybe more) waiting for the winner of the Minnesota vs. San Antonio series, which is tied 2-2.
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The Lakers head into an offseason with a lot of questions, and changes are coming — five Lakers are free agents, and another three have player options. LeBron James is one of the free agents and said he is going to take some time to decide if he wants to come back for a record 24th NBA season — and if he does, where he might play. Austin Reaves has a player option he is not going to pick up — he is going to get paid. Whether that is by the Lakers or someone else remains to be seen.
Reaves and LeBron showed their value on Monday night, but it wasn’t enough against a Thunder team that just had too many weapons and executes too well on both ends of the court.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander showed why he is about to be named the two-time NBA MVP, scoring 35 points with eight assists on the night.
What makes the Thunder so tough to beat — so relentless — is that SGA is not a one-man band.
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Ajay Mitchell — a second-year pro who played just 84 minutes in the playoffs a year ago — scored 28 points on 12-of-19 shooting, taking some of the shot creation load off of Gilgeous-Alexander as the Lakers doubled him. Chet Holmgren had 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including some clutch buckets late, and had nine rebounds.
Reaves led the Lakers with 27 points, while LeBron had 24 points and 12 rebounds. Rui Hachimura — another of the Lakers’ free agents — scored 25 points, including 4-of-8 from 3-point range.
The Lakers did a better job defensively in the first half than they had all series, holding the Thunder to a 102.1 offensive rating despite 14 from Gilgeous-Alexander. The challenge was scoring on the Thunder defense: The Lakers shot just 39.5% in the first half and were 2-of-13 from beyond the arc (they just missed some open looks). Remove LeBron and Reaves from the equation and the Lakers shot 35% in the first 24 minutes. Still, they only trailed by four, 49-45. They were playing hard.
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The Thunder had owned the third quarter in this series and for the first half of the quarter that did not change, Oklahoma City went on a 17-0 run holding the Lakers scoreless for 6:40 in the third quarter to take control of the game.
OKC pushed its lead out to 12. The Lakers did not quit.
Behind Reaves getting downhill and drawing fouls, plus 12 points from Rui Hachimura, the Lakers ended the third on a 6-1 run and had an 84-80 lead after 3. That was the first time the Thunder have trailed entering the fourth quarter all playoffs.
But the Thunder are relentless. And they are moving on.
