Thunder cruise past Lakers 108-90 despite off night from Gilgeous-Alexander
thunder-cruise-past-lakers-108-90-despite-off-night-from-gilgeous-alexander
The Oklahoma City Thunder opened the Western Conference semifinals with a 108-90 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night, prevailing even as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander posted one of his least efficient outings of the season.
Gilgeous-Alexander, considered a leading MVP candidate, finished with 18 points and seven turnovers. Despite the miscues, Oklahoma City controlled play for most of the game and limited Los Angeles to just 37 points after halftime.
“This ain’t Shai versus the Lakers, it’s Lakers versus the Thunder,” LeBron James said after the loss. “We’re down 1-0. That’s the main thing.”
James scored 27 points on 12-for-17 shooting, but the Lakers struggled to generate consistent offense without Luka Dončić, who remained sidelined by a hamstring injury.
Holmgren leads balanced Thunder attack
Rookie center Chet Holmgren powered Oklahoma City with 24 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks. The Thunder shot nearly 50 percent from the field and better than 43 percent from three-point range, underscoring the depth that has made them a favorite in the West.
Head coach Mark Daigneault acknowledged his club looked uneven at times after an eight-day break between series. “It obviously wasn’t clean,” Daigneault said. “We won an imperfect game tonight, and that’s a good thing.”
Even with their star guard struggling, the Thunder never trailed by more than seven and gradually built a double-digit cushion in the third quarter, outscoring Los Angeles 30-19 in the period.
The best-of-seven series resumes later this week with Game 2, where the Lakers will try to even the matchup and the Thunder aim to maintain home-court advantage.
Source: Hoops Wire
