OKLAHOMA CITY — Hitting on a 25-foot 3-pointer, Anthony Davis gave Los Angeles its largest lead of the night at 26 points with under four minutes left in the third quarter.
The Oklahoma City Thunder managed to cut it to single digits in the final frame but ultimately lost to the Los Angeles Lakers, 129-120.
“I thought in the first half, they were a little bit too comfortable,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said on the loss. “… I thought they were in a pretty good groove and rhythm. They were ready to play. They were sharp.”
The Thunder got off to a hot start, scoring a season-high 39 points in the first quarter. After that though, OKC’s offense sputtered in the second quarter and was outscored by 15 points to enter halftime trailing 71-59.
The Lakers started the second half on a 19-11 run as a LeBron James to Davis lob helped push Los Angeles’ lead to 20 points. The rest of the game played out similarly as the Lakers held a healthy lead.
Overall, the Thunder shot 48% from the field but went 13-of-41 (31.7%) from 3. OKC had plenty of quality looks from deep throughout the second half that missed — extinguishing any hopes of a comeback attempt.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams headlined OKC’s loss. The duo scored 34 points and 28 points respectively in the defeat.
Meanwhile, the Lakers — who entered the game declaring this was a must-win contest as they hoped to snap a four-game losing streak — were led by their star duo of James and Davis.
James scored a season-high 40 points on 13-of-20 shooting. He also had seven assists and seven rebounds. The 38-year-old dominated OKC and scored 11 points in the final five minutes to secure the outcome. Meanwhile, Davis had 26 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists — a strong showing considering he circled this game as a ‘must-win’ for Los Angeles.
Off the bench, Rui Hachimura tallied 21 points and six rebounds. Austin Reaves chipped in with 11 points and nine assists.
“They were good tonight in terms of shot-making,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Some of it you tip your hat, some of it is they were a little too comfortable early in the game.”
Overall, the Lakers shot 52% from the field and went 15-of-32 (50%) from 3. Los Angeles dished out 37 assists on its 47 baskets.
“That was the challenge tonight, we knew what it was and so did they,” Daigneault said on Davis’ ‘must-win’ comment heading into this game. “And credit them. They were the better team. They backed that up tonight. They played like the more desperate team.”
It was a rough night for the Thunder. OKC couldn’t capitalize on its 3-point attempts while it was the opposite for the Lakers who enjoyed an efficient scoring night.
“They were the better team clearly for the 48 minutes of the game,” Daigneault said. “They were ready to play. We tipped our hat to them for that…
“When you put a team that’s that caliber of shot-making in rhythm, or you allow them to get into rhythm, that’s when that stuff starts to fall… I didn’t think we had our fastball there defensively in the first half.”
Let’s look at Thunder player grades.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: A
Despite the loss, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander turned in another high-scoring outing.
In 38 minutes, Gilgeous-Alexander had 34 points on 12-of-21 shooting, seven assists, five rebounds and three steals. He also shot 9-of-10 from the free-throw line.
The 25-year-old led OKC to its highest-scoring first quarter of the season with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting. He also had his typical monster third quarter of 15 points.
Gilgeous-Alexander conducted most of his scoring inside the paint, where he shot 10-of-12. Alas, a quiet second quarter by him — two points — allowed the Lakers to build up a sustainable lead it never surrendered the rest of the way.
Shai spins and it’s in 🌪
📺 @BallySportsOK pic.twitter.com/ZIRljKwmbr
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 24, 2023
SGAnd-1 💪#ThunderUp | @okcthunder | 📺: BSOK pic.twitter.com/wUDFBHMCS6
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) December 24, 2023
Movin’ all around@OGandE Power Play of the Game pic.twitter.com/ObcMeAfgTA
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 24, 2023
Jalen Williams: A
Thanks to a mixture of self-created shots, Williams had an impressive outing against the Lakers.
In 34 minutes, Williams had 28 points on 11-of-17 shooting, six rebounds and three assists. He shot 2-of-5 from 3 and went 4-of-4 from the free-throw line.
It’s become a growing habit of Williams to create his shot off the dribble, which has helped him become a more polished scorer this season. This was highlighted on his baseline fadeaway jumper that ended the first quarter.
Even though it happened in a loss, this was one of Williams’ better scoring performances of the season.
“We just didn’t get stops early and that obviously had a snowball effect,” Williams said on their defense.
Can't leave J-Dub all alone 🏝️#ThunderUp | @okcthunder | 📺: BSOK pic.twitter.com/cyQ0Tal78K
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) December 24, 2023
Dub beats the buzzer 🚨 pic.twitter.com/bhJcuI7Kw9
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 24, 2023
Stacking possessions and continuing to create opportunities pic.twitter.com/VNNtY2tWGx
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 24, 2023
Chet Holmgren: B
Holmgren battled it out against the large Lakers as he fought through several defensive possessions on James and Davis.
In 34 minutes, Holmgren had 19 points on 8-of-18 shooting, 10 rebounds and three blocks. The outside shot didn’t fall for him as he went just 1-of-6.
Some of the LA points scored were loud as they involved Holmgren being on the receiving end of Lakers highlights, but he did an admirable job at anchoring Los Angeles to 46 points on 52% shooting inside of the paint.
“Our physicality and aggressiveness on the defensive end could’ve been better,” Holmgren said. “Could’ve been better with rotations, could’ve been better in coverages.”
Chet Holmgren gets the Thunder's first bucket 🪣#ThunderUp | @okcthunder | 📺: BSOK pic.twitter.com/F8iOJdr0rq
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) December 24, 2023
Chet said ❌
Vote Chet for NBA All-Star: https://t.co/2FFNkzxxzm pic.twitter.com/tL768VLpWE
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 24, 2023
Chet coming through with the put-back 🔨 pic.twitter.com/lNi9xuz8lH
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 24, 2023
Chet crashing the glass pic.twitter.com/2PtgtuxsCV
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 24, 2023
Cason Wallace: C-minus
With Josh Giddey out due to an ankle sprain, Wallace received the starting nod. He’s been OKC’s go-to guy when it comes to filling in for one of the starters when they miss time.
Against the Lakers, Wallace played mostly in the background. In 24 minutes, the rookie guard had five points and four assists. He shot 1-of-4 from 3 — an uncharacteristic number as he entered the night leading the league in 3-point percentage.
It was a forgettable performance by the 20-year-old as he struggled to contribute against the large Lakers.
“I thought Cason is a really good defender, he can guard up, Dort can guard up. We have confidence in those guys,” Daigneault said. “We should have some advantages as well by playing like that.”
SGA finds Cason in the corner 🎯 pic.twitter.com/AXZsTkBrDx
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 24, 2023
