The Los Angeles Lakers Once again they underestimated one of the worst teams in the league, giving the rebuilding Oklahoma City Thunder their second win of the season, 105-101. Both of those victories have now come against a 5-4 Lakers side that doesn’t yet look like anything close to a contender for the NBA title.
In short, this was once again an absolute embarrassment, no matter who was outside or injured.
LeBron James sat up again, as news broke earlier on Thursday He was going to miss at least a week due to abdominal strain With the Lakers taking extra precautions with their impressive player of almost 37 years old. Then Lakers fans got another injury like Anthony Davis flexed his thumb While chasing the loose ball before the end of the first half. Davis wasn’t until midway through the third quarter with his thumb curled, but he still finished with 29 points and 17 double rebounds in 37 minutes (thanks in large part to his first-half dominance before his injury).
With James out, Russell Westbrook took charge of the attack and provided Russell Westbrook’s full experience, finishing 10-23 off the field for 27 points to spend 6 rebounds and 5 assists in 35 minutes.
The Lakers went up to 19 in the first half, but as was the case when they played Oklahoma City The first time this year, they saw their lead wasted thanks to some incredibly choppy play from the shortened bench. Aside from Carmelo Anthony, who finished the game with 21 points from 8 to 18, the Lakers bench struggled to put the ball in the hoop.
Rajon Rondo had no points in 15 minutes, and in his first appearance of the season, sniper Wayne Ellington was 1-6 off the field in nine minutes of play. Malik Monk had only two points in 13 minutes.
After a 7-0 run by the Lakers taking them 95-93 in the fourth inning, emerging Thunder star Shay Gilgus Alexander fired two free throws to equalize, finding Kendrick Williams wide open for a three-pointer, then hit in vain. His own screenshot of the logo.
The Lakers had two goals again—thanks to three-pointers from Austin Reeves and Anthony—and had a chance to equalise less than 30 seconds before, but Westbrook lost the ball out of bounds on their fourth turn of the game. Gilgus found Alexander Lowort to sink a wide opening from the next game, making matters worse as the Lakers turned on another asymmetric defensive attempt.
Anthony hit another three-pointer eight seconds ago to put the deficit back in within one, but Dort hit two free throws and Westbrook missed three as the seconds passed to lock in the loss.
A few minutes before that, another loss emerged due to the thunder of a boiling frustration, as Anthony had to be separated from Dort in the final seconds. What must be angry about the Lakers, though, is that they lost another game against one of the most blatantly offensive teams in years. Credit to Thunder, but credit to the Lakers’ pathetic defensive efforts, too. With or without LeBron, this is a shocking result that should leave the team with plenty to think about.
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