Thunder 104- 116 Lakers summary, stats, scores and highlights | NBA
D'Angleo Russell was the star of the show, stepping up and leading his team with 26 points on 9/17 shooting, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals to lead his team to a much needed victory over the conference leaders.
LA will need some more wins like the one they had on Monday night if they are going to climb out of Play-In position. This win will bring them to within two games of the Suns in 6th and jump them out of 10th place for the moment while the Thunder now trail the Timberwolves by a half game.
Anthony Davis can catch a lot of slack, but one thing you can never question is his effort on the defensive end. He locked down Chet Holmgren and the Thunder while posting 24, 12 and 4.
LA held the Thunder to just 30% from the field in the first half, and went through an eight minute stretch in which they scored just 5 points. The Lakers took control from that point on and held a double digit advantage for most of the rest of the game. LeBron didn't have a single point in the first quarter, but had 9 in the second and finished the game with 19, 11 and 8, barley playing the fourth quarter.
The Lakers had 11 turnovers in the first quarter, but once the defense kicked in the offense started to come alive. They went on a 12-0 run to tie the game up at 25-25 heading into the second quarter.
The Los Angeles Lakers came into their game against the league leading Oklahoma City Thunder in 10th in the West, and needing a win against a top seeded team for the first time in too long. D'Angelo Russell took over the game on both ends of the court, and led his team to a 116-104 win on Monday night from Crytpo.com Arena.
The Lakers didn't get off to the best of starts, hitting just one of their first five field goals and went down 12 early on, but the defense came alive at the end of the first quarter, and LA never switched off.
IT'S ALL OVER!! THE LA LAKERS GET A HUGE WIN OVER THE CONFERENCE LEADING THUNDER!!!
Sarr to the line after the foul on Lewis and he hits one of two FTs.
Waters pulls the trigger from downtown and drills the three ball from the top of the key.
Waters finds Wallace on the backdoor cut for the open lay up.
Wallace makes a move at the top of the key and stretches for the lay up.
Muscala drills a three ball from the corner off the dish from Hayward.
Sarr gets to the iron and lays it up and in.
Timeout Lakers with 3:43 to go in the 4th.
Christie with the three ball that hits off the back of the rim, bounces up and drops in! Everything is going for the Lakers tonight.
Hood-Schifino hits one of two FTs after the foul on Williams.
Wiggins with a spot up three and he hits it from DT again.
Hayes puts it on the deck and glides to the iron for a huge jam!
Wiggins answers back from downtown, and he's one of the few Thunder players that are having a decent game.
Prince with another three ball this time from the opposite corner off the dish from Russell.
Pass across the baseline from Dinwiddie to Prince and he drills the corner three ball.
K. Williams on the reverse after the pump fake down low.
LeBron to the line after the foul on Wiggins and he hits one of two.
Muscala getss into the lane and lays it in off the glass.
Wiggins with the lay up after the offensive board from Williams.
Heat check for Russell who just throws one up in the face of a defender and sets this Crytpo.com Arena ablaze!
Timeout Thunder with 9:02 to go in the 4th.
Russell with the step back three ball and he is feeling it!
Williams hits the mid range jumper from outside the lane.
Russell had to launch a prayer from the wing with the shot clock winding down and goes all nets!
Hayes with the kickout and LeBron drives, pumps and lays it in after getting the defender in the air.
Homlgren puts it up from under the basket and gets the foul! FT is good after the foul on Prince.
Prince drills the three ball form the corner off the feed from James.
Wiggins to the line after the foul on Prince and he hits both FTs.
We are headed to the fourth quarter with the Lakers in control against the top team in the Western Conference.
Reddish's prayer on the reverse was collected by Davis who slammed it home.
Hayward missed the lay up in transition but Wiggins was there for the tip in.
Davis back to the line after the foul on Biyombo and he hits both FTs.
SGA spins and hits the turn around J over Reddish.
AD to the line after the foul on Biyomo, and he hits both FTs.
SGA hits the deep two and the Thunder have to think about cutting into this lead with under 2:00 to go in the third.
Russell to the line after the foul on Biyombo and he hits both FTs.
Hayward pulls the trigger from the FT line and he's on the board for the first time.
Russell streaking down the lane and he lays it up and in off the glass.
LeBron with a full court pass to AD who jams it on the second attempt.
Timeout Thunder with 3:33 to go in the third quarter.
LeBron to the line after the foul on Dort and he hits two FTs.
Davis to the line after the foul on Hayward and he hits both FTs.
LeBron working the pick and roll to Davis who lays it up and gets the foul! FT is good.
LeBron pulls the trigger off a handoff from Davis and he drills the three from the wing.
SGA sent to the line by Russell and he hits both FTs.
Williams at the line after the foul on Reaves and he hits both FTs.
Reaves' three ball rattled out but AD was there with the offensive board and put back slam.
Timeout from LA with 6:36 to go in the third quarter.
Reaves drills the three ball and his game has all of the sudden turned into a shootout!
Giddey back on the board, this time from the perimeter as he joins the three point party.
Kick out from Hachimura to Russell and he drills the three ball on the wing.
Williams missed the lay up on the break but Holmgren was there to clean it up.
SGA hits a technical FT after the defensive three seconds on Prince, and then Holmgren drills a three ball!
Williams on a step back from the wing and the Thunder might have to get back into this game by way of the three ball.
James puts his head down and lays it up and in off the glass.
Dort with another three ball and he's been the only source of offense for OKC since the first quarter.
SGA turned it over and Hachimura long stepped his way to the rim for a lay up.
Hachimura fouled by Giddey, but he misses both FTs.
SGA gets to his spot and hits ht mid range jumper.
Reaves with the between the legs step back and he drills the high aching three from the top of the key!
We are back in LA for the second half of action.
LeBron was held scoreless in the first quarter, so it was AD and Reaves who had the big run to end the first quarter to tie the game up. After that LeBron got going. He's got 9,8 and 5 after two quarters. AD's got 9 and 5 rebounds while Reaves and Russell lead the Lakers with 10 a piece.
The Lakers turned it over 12 times in the first half, but the Thunder shot just 30.6% from the field.
Dort has 12 off four threes, SGA has 11 and Giddey chipped in another 10.
The Lakers defense stepped up after a sluggish start. They held OKC to just 5 points in an 8 minute stretch and had a 12-0 during that span.
Giddey was running the show early on. He got to the bucket untouched time and time again and had 8 first quarter points.
SGA and the Thunder jumped out to an early 12 point lead to start the game thanks to a handful of early turnovers by LA.
WE ARE HEADED TO HALFTIME WITH THE LAKERS UP BY NINE AFTER A GREAT DEFENSIVE HALF.
Great D from Davis and LeBron started the break, looked up to Russell who dropped it back for James for the AND 1. FT is good.
Giddey back to the bucket and he lays it up and in in traffic.
Russell cuts to the bucket and he gets the scoop off the glass to fall.
SGA splashes a three ball from the top of the key with the shot clock winding down!
Russell drains a three ball from the wing off the ball screen from LeBron.
SGA to the line after the foul on Hachimura and he hits both FTs.
Reaves running the break and leads LeBron to the bucket for the lay up off the glass.
Davis soars to the bucket and chases down an alley oop thrown up by Russell.
Reaves pull up from the paint and hits the short jumper.
Dort with another three ball, that's four for him already and the Lakers haven't scored in almost four minutes.
Dort drops a second three in a matter of minutes and the Thunder are starting to find their flow on the offensive end.
Timeout Lakers with 4:24 to go in the first half.
Davis fouled by Williams down low and he hits one of two FTs.
Dort drills a much needed three from the wing after Willams found him wide open on the perimeter.
Reaves floats it up and in in the lane and the Lakers are on a 26-5 run dating back to the 4:00 mark in the 1st quarter.
LeBron follows his own miss and tips it in.
Russell strolls the bucket off the screen and lays it up high off the glass.
Timeout Thunder with 8:26 to go in the 2nd quarter.
LeBron running over Thunder players in transition and he lays it up and in off the glass.
LeBron over the top for Hayes who skies for the alley oop.
Prince off the dribble with the short baseline jumper after the offensive rebound from Russell.
Holmgren backs down Hayes and he hits th turn around from the baseline.
We are at the end of the first quarter. The Thunder got off to a quick start going up as many as 12, but the Lakers went on a 12-0 run to send us into the second all tied up.
Giddey's got 8 leading all scorers, SGA has 6 and Holmgren has another five.
Reaves and Davis both had 6, Hachimura scored 5 and LeBron was held scoreless.
Biyombo sends Davis to the line after AD crashes the boards and he hits both FTs.
Wallace drills the three ball from the wing to break the LA 12-0 run.
Russell to the line after the foul on SGA and he hits one of two.
Timeout with 1:08 to go in the 1st quarter. The Lakers are on an 11-0 run over the last three minutes.
Dinwiddie with the block on one end, and takes on the entire Thunder defense for the lay up in transition.
Reaves is turning it on in the first quarter, he steps back and drills the three ball over the defender from the top of the key.
Reaves dishing it to the perimeter again, this time to Prince who drills the corner three.
Reaves drills the pull up three ball from the wing!
SGA to the line after the foul on Russell, and he hits both FTs.
Hachimura in the corner and he drills the three off the kick out from Reaves.
Giddey back to the rack and he has had three or four lay ups already.
Catch and shoot from inside the lane from Russell.
Williams running the break, and missed the lay up but Giddey was there with the open put back.
Dort from downtown and he strokes the three from the win out of the timeout.
LeBron with the lob over the top and Davis is there to slam home the alley oop.
Timeout Lakers with 7:41 to go in the 1st Quarter.
Hachimura beats everyone down the floor and puts it in on the break after the long pass from LeBron.
Giddey going back to the bucket and he lays it up off the glass.
Homlgren drags down his own rebound and gets the put back to go over Davis.
Reaves hit with a technical after mouthing off to the ref, and SGA hits the FT.
Chet was left alone on the perimeter and he knocks down a three from the wing.
James with the entry pass down low to AD who spins off a defender and lays it in.
SGA is on the board with an and one after splitting a couple defenders and hitting the floater in the lane. FT is good.
Giddey gets us started with a runner off the glass from outside the lane.
WE ARE UNDERWAY FROM LA!!
LeBron good to go
The Lakers have yet to release their starting five, but LeBron James will be in the line up. He's warming up and dressed to play after coming into today questionable. with an ankle sprain.
Thunder's first five
This is one of the best young starting fives that we have seen for a long time. They are first in the conference after their incredible February run, but how long can they stay on top with everyone gunning for them? It's SGA, Giddey, Dort, Wiliams and Chet starting for the Thunder tonight from the Crypt.
Western Conference Standings
Taking a look at the Western Conference standings, we see the Thunder coming in to tonight as the one seed with a record of 42-18. They have a half game lead on the Timberwolves and the Nuggets who have been surging up the standings of late. The Lakers are a long way from the race for first place, sitting in 10th, 10 games back of OKC. They come into tonight tied with the Warriors, at 10 games back, but are behind Golden State because of a tiebreaker. The Lakers will try to avoid the Play-In at all costs, but to do so they are going to have to make up some ground. Things are tight in the Play-In race and only 2.5 games separates the 6th placed Kings and the 10th placed Lakers. While the top 10 teams look pretty locked in, it’s going to be a mad dash to the finish line for the teams hoping to avoid the 7-10 seeds.
Time to Shai-n
It’s been mentioned, and even suggested that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander should be an MVP contender. For some reason the national media are hesitant to put him at the forefront of this race, and it makes no sense. For me, SGA is the leading MVP candidate at this point of the season. Since Joel Embiid went down with an injury, SGA has filled his shoes has the best player in the league. He is the second leading scorer in the league, behind Luka Doncic, getting 31.2 ppg and had led the Thunder from a 40-42 record to 42-18 coming into tonight. He has his team at the top of the West, and has brought OKC back into the contender conversation for the first time in a very, very long time.
Captain 40k
In Lebron James’ last three games he has brought his team back from a 21 point 4th quarter deficit scoring 19 in the final 12 minutes against the Clippers. Dropped 31 on the Wizards, and became the first player in league history to score 40,000 points on Saturday against the Nuggets. At the age of 39, he continues to amaze, but it seems like everyone else on his team sits back in awe as well. Anthony Davis is one of the best big men in the league and there are days where he plays like it, but if the Lakers are going to have success they need guys like D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura to have a bigger role.
Lakers last game
The Lakers welcomed the Denver Nuggets to the Crypto.com Arena over the weekend in a rematch of last year’s Western Conference series in which LA suffered a 4-0 sweeping of the eventual champions. The highlight of the night was LeBron James becoming the first NBA player to score 40,000 points, but Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets crashed the party by beating the Lakers on James’ historic night. The Lakers took the early lead, but never led by more than 11 points. Once out of the halftime break, the Nuggets cut into the lead, and both teams went had their share of the lead until the final four minutes of the game. Michael Porter Jr. poured in 25, 10 and 7 on a perfect night from the field while Jokic had 35, 10 and 7 and he had some big buckets in the 13-4 run Denver went on to end the game and take the 124-114 win.
Thunder's last game
After losing to a sensational Victory Wembanyama to start their four game road trip, the Thunder went into the Phoenix and had to fend off what would have been a devastating comeback by the Suns. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 35 in the win over the Suns, and had OKC up by 24 in the third quarter, but a 33-7 run put Bradley Beal (31 points) and the Suns on top in the first few minutes of the final quarter. Despite shooting under 30% on the night from three point range, they used a 22-6 turnover advantage to take the lead back with 5:30 go and OKC got back in the win column with a 118-110 win in the desert.
We are live from LA
Hello everyone and welcome to the Crypt where the Lakers are currently on the third game of a six game home stint, but that doesn’t mean LeBron and the Lake show have been rattling off wins. In fact, their loss against the Nuggets on Saturday was their third in their last six games, and they now find themselves behind the eight ball in the race to avoid the Play-In. The Thunder have won 7 of their last 8 games to take sole possession of the top seed in the conference, and now we will have to see how they do as the pace setters in the West. LA is the more desperate, but the Thunder will be just as eager to win tonight trying to stay atop the West as we continue the sprint to the finish line.
Thunder vs. Lakers
It’s light, camera, action in LA as the conference leaders come into the Crypto.Com Arena to take on a team trying to stay in the postseason picture. Each and every game for the Lakers is going to be a big one from here until the end of the season after a terrible start to the season. Tonight they welcome the top seed in the West, the Oklahoma City Thunder who have taken over the Minnesota Timberwolves at the top of the standings and look to stay there win a win tonight in Los Angeles. AS English will be with you all night, providing live coverage, stats, highlights and analysis of tonight’s pivotal game with plenty of playoff implications.