Thunder open West semifinals with 108-90 rout of Lakers
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OKLAHOMA CITY, May 5, 2026 — The Oklahoma City Thunder seized a 1–0 lead in the Western Conference semifinals Tuesday night, defeating the Los Angeles Lakers 108-90 despite an unusually quiet outing from MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 18 points on 8-for-15 shooting, his lowest total of the season and his fewest in any game since last year’s West finals. The guard also committed seven turnovers, two more than his previous season high. “I was OK. It wasn’t my best. It wasn’t my worst,” he said.
The Thunder leaned instead on rookie power forward Chet Holmgren, who produced 24 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks. Oklahoma City limited Los Angeles to 37 second-half points while playing without injured superstar Luka Dončić, sidelined by a strained hamstring.
Los Angeles star LeBron James led all scorers with 27 points on 12-of-17 shooting. “This ain’t Shai versus the Lakers, it’s Lakers versus the Thunder,” James said. “We’re down 1-0. That’s the main thing.”
Turnovers and rust
Oklahoma City shot 49.4% from the field and 43.3% from three-point range but committed 16 turnovers, well above its league-best regular-season average of 11.8. Both Gilgeous-Alexander and head coach Mark Daigneault pointed to the eight-day layoff following a first-round sweep of the Phoenix Suns as a factor. “We won an imperfect game tonight, and that’s a good thing,” Daigneault said.
Holmgren noted that several of Gilgeous-Alexander’s giveaways stemmed from teammates being out of position. “In the stat book, those are his turnovers, but they shouldn’t be,” he said. “We’ve got to improve, be better, be where we need to be.”
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is scheduled for Thursday night in Oklahoma City.
Source: ESPN
