Despite the whining, crying, and complaining about the officiating in Games 1 and 2, the Los Angeles Lakers were still unable to stick around for more than the first half against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 3. Despite being called for 6 fewer fouls and winning the free-throw count 25 to 10, the Lakers were destroyed in the second half on Saturday as the Thunder ran away yet again for a 131-108 win to take a 3-0 lead. Now, OKC has the chance to clinch the series with another sweep.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has struggled his way through this series, facing double and even triple teams in most possessions. As a result, he hasn’t been able to get into much of a shooting rhythm, but he has still affected the game in other ways. Despite shooting just 7-of-20 (35%) from the floor in Game 3, SGA handed out 9 assists, which doesn’t remotely speak to the gravity that he draws from the Laker defense. On the other side of the court, he had 2 blocks and a steal as he continued to play hard, even when being physically dealt with on the offensive end.
The Lakers like to pretend that they play clean basketball and only complain because they’re actually getting fouled by the mean old Thunder, but the fact is that they tried to be the more physical team in Game 3, and while they definitely were with SGA, their attempts were rendered ineffective because that allowed someone else to shine. For example, Chet Holmgren has been particularly productive against the Lakers, averaging 21.3 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 blocks so far.
While another blowout win should not surprise anyone, the Thunder’s primary goal for Game 4 should be to take care of business without too much drama or incident. As physical as the series has been, it’s a wonder that OKC hasn’t experienced any injuries, and it would be nice to keep it that way. LeBron James is unlikely to go quietly into the night, so the Thunder defense needs to be active early, and the offense needs to be patient, yet decidedly focused. Hopefully, at the end of the night, OKC will be ready to relax for at least a few days as they await their opponent in the Western Conference Finals.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 9:30 PM CT
Location: Crypto.com Arena (Los Angeles, California)
Television: Prime Video
Radio: WWLS 98.1FM OKC The Sports Animal
Twitter: Follow @ZacharyLowNBA for live tweets and discussion during the game
Game Notes: Oklahoma City Thunder Official Game Notes, Los Angeles Lakers Official Game Notes
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Ajay Mitchell
- SF: Luguentz Dort
- PF: Chet Holmgren
- C: Isaiah Hartenstein
Lakers
- PG: Austin Reaves
- SG: Marcus Smart
- SF: Rui Hachimura
- PF: LeBron James
- C: Deandre Ayton
Injury Report
Thunder
- Thomas Sorber (right ACL surgical recovery) is OUT.
- Jalen Williams (right hamstring injury management) is OUT.
Lakers
- Luka Doncic (strained left hamstring) is OUT.
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 34-29 against the Lakers (18-13 at home, 16-16 on the road) in the regular season and 9-5 (7-1 at home, 2-4 on the road) in the Playoffs.
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder has won the season series against the Lakers 8 times, lost 7 times, and tied it twice.
- The Thunder went 4-0 against the Lakers in the regular season (2-0 at home, 2-0 on the road).
- OKC is 3-0 against Los Angeles in the Western Conference Semifinals (2-0 at home, 1-0 on the road).