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JJ Redick’s team shot the lights out — going 22-of-40 (55 percent) from beyond the arc. Bench players Dorian Finney-Smith and Gabe Vincent combined for eight three-point makes en route to 26 combined points. Luka Doncic led the team in scoring 30 points. He added six assists and seven rebounds for good measure.
This was truly a statement game for the Lakers. OKC had been the class of the NBA for the entire season. Playing a Thunders team at full-strength on the road, the Lakers were in no way afraid of this challenge. On the contrary — they looked like the more confident and aggressive team.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander did score 26 points. However, he did not attempt one free throw the entire game. Jalen Williams only converted four of 14 shots from the field. Chet Holmgren only attempted six shots in 25 minutes. Aside from LA’s proclivity from shooting threes at a high clip, OKC struggled with the size across the board LA possesses. The Lakers are not a good matchup for the Thunder, and it was evident on Sunday.
The Lakers won’t always shoot 55 percent from three. This could’ve been a bit of an anomaly. Having said that, the Thunder are coming off two-straight losses to LA and Houston — the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds in the West. OKC lost both games by double-digits, and have allowed 125 points in each of the last two games.
On Tuesday ironically enough, the Lakers and Thunders will play one another again in Oklahoma City. It’ll be interesting to see if the Lakers play some mind games by resting their top guns in this rematch given that it’s the first of a back-to-back with a highly anticipated visit to Dallas coming on Wednesday.
