LOS ANGELES — What the Lakers have dreaded in each of their games against the Oklahoma City Thunder had yet to arrive.
It’s the blitz, the all-out, blink-and-you-miss-it scoring runs that Lakers coach JJ Redick has warned can build at a moment’s notice against the Western Conference’s top-seeded squad.
That moment came as the second half began in Game 3 on Saturday night, a 131-108 Thunder win that pushed the Lakers to the brink of elimination. Game 4 of the best-of-seven series is Monday night at Crypto.com Arena, when the Lakers will try to avoid being swept into the offseason by the reigning NBA champs.
The Thunder opened the third quarter on a 21-6 run, turning the Lakers’ return to Los Angeles into a rehash of the first two games of the series in Oklahoma. By the time it was over, they had been outscored by 25 points in the second half – the most a Lakers team has been outscored by in the second half of a home playoff game since Game 2 of the 2000 Western Conference Finals against the Portland Trail Blazers.
“They’ve kicked our ass three straight games,” Redick said. “They’re an incredible basketball team.”
The Lakers were the tortoise by the game’s final buzzer, clearly gassed after trying to halt the revolving door of Oklahoma City bench options. And the Thunder were more Energizer Bunny than hare, weathering another solid but hardly spectacular outing from star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (23 points on 7-for-20 shooting) by scoring 30 points off of 17 Lakers turnovers while getting playoff career highs of 24 points and 10 assists (and zero turnovers) from second-year guard Ajay Mitchell.
Rui Hachimura paced the Lakers with 21 points (going 5 for 8 from 3-point range), while LeBron James added 19 points, eight assists and six rebounds. Austin Reaves took a step back from his playoff-career-high 31 points in Game 2, struggling from the field (5-for-13 shooting) on his way to 17 points.
As the final buzzer sounded, James sat stoically at the end of the bench with his arms crossed close to his chest. Center Deandre Ayton picked at his nails as Redick was no longer standing in front of the announcer’s table, but on the bench with his assistant coaches beside him. Another defeat and the same bitter taste of Thunder second-half dominance.
“I wouldn’t say I’m angry or disappointed,” James said. “I mean, obviously you’re disappointed in the simple fact of like being down 3-0 obviously. But I mean, we still got life and that’s all you can ask for. And we gotta be much better on Monday. See what happens.”
Redick said that it doesn’t matter how he feels when basking in the disappointment of a third consecutive defeat. And it might be Redick just playing the company tune, but the Lakers head coach believes the Lakers can still scrape a victory to force a Game 5 in Oklahoma City.
“We’ve got to be better,” Redick said. “But I’m not giving up on the series, and we’re going to try to go win on Monday. We’re going to try to extend the series and we’re going to try to take this thing back to OKC.”
One-hundred-sixty-one teams have faced a 3-0 deficit in an NBA playoff series. Only four have even forced a Game 7, including the 2023 Boston Celtics which included Marcus Smart as a starting guard. But none of those teams have overcome what is clearly a monumental hill to climb.
The Lakers will try to avoid being the all-too-likely 162nd.
Despite now facing the extremes of having to win four straight against the Thunder, the Lakers’ will in Game 3, entering the game on close-to life support, was undeniable.
Reaves, who missed his first five shots on Saturday, led a second-quarter charge to give the Lakers a halftime advantage for the second straight game. Down by as much as 10 points in the first quarter, the Lakers knotted the score at 44 with 5:33 remaining in the second quarter when James and Hachimura made consecutive 3-pointers – of 11 in the first half alone on 55% shooting.
Reaves, who recorded eight of his nine assists during the first half while he tried to cement an offensive rhythm, outhustled Thunder forward Jaylin Williams for a rebound before forcing contact and lifting a circus shot over his head toward the rim. Reaves’ shot went in and the officials whistled Williams for a personal foul, allowing the Lakers guard to tie the score at 47.
The Lakers built their lead to five points in the second quarter, but they needed a second-chance Deandre Ayton dunk to secure a two-point lead (59-57) at halftime.
Redick said he was going to have to switch up rotations and lineups during Game 3 to limit the Thunder when Gilgeous-Alexander was off the court – and to reduce Chet Holmgren’s efficiency. On Saturday, that included removing Jake LaRavia from the rotation entirely as rookie forward Adou Thiero became the Lakers’ third player off the bench and veteran big man Maxi Kleber moved into the rotation as the ninth option.
Thiero (eight rebounds in 13 minutes) sparked a Lakers run, grabbing a pair of offensive rebounds for second-chance looks as the Lakers crept back within five points after Smart converted a second-chance layup of his own. But Thunder reserve guard Isaiah Joe, who had been relatively quiet after torching the Lakers from long range during the regular season (12 for 17 from 3-point range in their final two matchups), made consecutive 3-pointers to give the Thunder a 90-79 cushion entering the fourth quarter.
“Third straight game, we’re right there after two and a half quarters and we tried different lineups, tried different coverages, still lost those minutes again,” Redick said.
Forward Jarred Vanderbilt, who the Lakers upgraded to available before the game after he sat out Game 2 with a full right-finger dislocation he suffered in Game 1, did not play. Guard Luke Kennard had his best shooting performance since the first round, finishing with 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting (4 for 6 from behind the arc) in 29 minutes off the bench.
“When you have the league leading scorer out there, if he was, it definitely changes the dynamic of a team,” Kennard said of having NBA scoring champion Luka Doncic on the bench, still out nursing a Grade 2 left hamstring strain. “And we know that, and obviously we miss him and we know he’s working his butt off right now (to try and return).”
Holmgren finished with 18 points and nine rebounds for the Thunder, who shot 56% from the field. Reserve guard Cason Wallace added 16 points on 4-for-6 shooting from deep. Oklahoma City has turned the third quarter into its calling card, outscoring the Lakers by a combined 31 points in the after-halftime period across the Lakers’ three second-round defeats.
When asked why that’s been the case, Lakers played strummed similar answers.
They don’t know why.
“If I could tell you, we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” Smart quipped.
“If I had the answers, we would not struggle with it,” Reaves added about stopping the Thunder from blitzing.
If the Lakers are going to find a new level of desperation and resilience to avoid a sweep – answers sure better emerge on the horizon.
“This situation sucks, but that doesn’t give us the license to quit,” Reaves said. “We got to come in here and compete. We owe the organization that, we owe each other that, we owe our fans that. So we’re gonna come here Monday and play as hard as we can.”