The Los Angeles Lakers blew a 26-point lead and lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder, 123-115.
Los Angeles came in without LeBron James, while Anthony Davis played after an injury scare against the San Antonio Spurs.
The Lakers came out firing in the first quarter en route to a 41-19 lead, while Oklahoma City’s youth showed early because of the missed shots and clunky offense.
However, it all started going south from there for the Lakers.
Though L.A. built a 26-point lead in the second quarter, the players took their foot off the gas, and the Thunder gradually chipped away at the lead to make it a 14-point deficit at the break.
Then Oklahoma City came out red hot in the third quarter and made 8-of-12 shots from deep, led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s shotmaking that peaked when he banked in a triple at the end of the quarter.
L.A. was now the team that trailed going into the fourth. A comeback didn’t happen because of poor shot selection and defense combined with the inability to take advantage of the Thunder’s mistakes late in the game.
Here’s how the Lakers graded individually:
