OKLAHOMA CITY – The Lakers, once again, were very close.
But they continued to get in their own way in their 125-107 Game 2 loss to the Thunder at Paycom Center.
The Lakers had a lot of self-inflicted wounds, like 21 turnovers to OKC’s 26 points.
Even the 17 second-chance points they allowed the Thunder to score, squandering strong defensive half-court moments they had.
Because even Austin Reaves bounces back from a purtid Game 1 performance with a playoff-high 31 points to go along with 6 assists, Game 2 was defined by the Lakers’ mistakes.
Popularity was capitalized.
LeBron James has 23 points and 6 assists. Rui Hachimura (16 points) and Luke Kennard (10 points) combined for 26 points, but the Lakers had a strong shooting night (50% from the field, 37.9% on 3s).
Chet Holmgren led the Thunder with 22 points, 9 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 assists and 2 blocked shots. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 22 points. Ajay Mitchell recorded 20 points and 6 assists, while Jared McCain had 18 points off the bench.
What does it mean
The Lakers now trail 2-0 in the best-of-seven second-round series.
Under the 2-2-1-1-1 home/away pattern, the team that wins the home court has a 221-19 all-time record in playoff series after taking a 2-0 lead since the NBA moved to a 16-team playoff in 1984.
Conversion point
When Gilgeous-Alexander received his fourth penalty and one Flagrant Foul penalty at the 10:34 mark of the third quarter.
Reaves made two free throws, and a technical free throw after Alex Caruso was called for a technical from the bench, to put the Lakers up 66-61 as Gilgeous-Alexander was benched for the rest of the quarter.
Normally, this would be a good time for an opponent where the reigning MVP has to watch almost an entire quarter from the bench.
That was not the case for the Lakers, who were outscored 32-14 in the final 10 ½ minutes of the third.
Jared McCain (8 points), Holmgren (8) and Mitchell (7) combined for 23 points in the third, and the three outscored the Lakers, who had 22 points in the third.
MVP: Ajay Mitchell
The second-year guard continues his breakout season with another strong playoff game.
He was a big reason why the Thunder won minutes without Gilgeous-Alexander for the second time, scoring 11 points in the quarter.
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Game status: 12
How many points did the Thunder outscore the Lakers when Gilgeous-Alexander was out before Redick brought out his big replacements with 2:14 left, his team trailing 120-103.
The Lakers also struggled with non-Gilgeous-Alexander minutes in Game 1, which was released Tuesday while Gilgeous-Alexander was on the bench.
Next
Game 3 of Lakers-Thunder will tip off at 5:30 pm on Saturday at Crypto.com Arena.
