The Lakers had no reply for Chet Holmgren, who completed with 24 factors and 12 rebounds in Sport 1.
Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder coach Mark Daigneault isn’t all for what occurred in earlier matchups towards the Los Angeles Lakers this season and isn’t involved with what outsiders say will occur within the Thunder’s Western Convention semifinals sequence towards the Lakers.
The 4-0 report and 29.3 point-differential towards the Lakers within the common season? Meaningless now. These saying the Thunder are heavy favorites to beat Los Angeles in 4 or 5 video games? Of no significance to him or Thunder gamers.
Oklahoma Metropolis’s expertise, depth and Kia MVP finalist Shai Gilgeous-Alexander allowed the Thunder to tug away from the Lakers for a 108-90 victory Tuesday in Sport 1.
“Each sport’s unwritten,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault stated earlier than Sport 1. “The whole lot earlier than the sport doesn’t matter, and the whole lot after the sport doesn’t matter. All that issues is the ball’s going to go up at 7:30, the rating’s going to be 0-0, and the group with extra factors goes to win.
“And also you see that point and time once more in competitors. You’ll be able to see it in several sports activities. That’s only a legislation of competitors, and I believe the extra our group has rooted into that over time, it’s allowed us to remain very current and allowed us to dam out any noise that’s exterior of that.”
Sport 2 is Thursday in Oklahoma Metropolis (9:30 ET, Prime Video).
Listed here are 4 takeaways from Sport 1:
1. Holmgren looms massive for Thunder
It was clear from the opening tip-off that Oklahoma Metropolis wished to see if its frontcourt might make the most of the Lakers’ frontcourt. Ahead-center Chet Holmgren had six field-goal makes an attempt and 4 free-throw makes an attempt early within the sport and completed with a team-high 24 factors, game-high 12 rebounds and game-high three blocks.
He had six dunks. In a single second-quarter sequence, he rebounded his personal miss and put it again for a dunk. On Oklahoma Metropolis’s subsequent possession, Gilgeous-Alexander assisted on one other Holmgren dunk.
The 7-foot-1 center-forward confirmed his versatility with a 3-pointer, a block and a dunk in one other 60-second stretch within the first half.
Oklahoma Metropolis’s 7-foot center-forward Isaiah Hartenstein had eight factors, 9 rebounds and 4 assists, and the Thunder’s 9 offensive rebounds – three by Holmgren, two by Hartenstein – led to a 21-11 edge in second-chance factors.
“Once they did get an offensive rebound, they completely killed us,” Lakers coach JJ Redick stated. “We’ve received to do a greater job of constructing again out on the offensive rebound.”
2. Oklahoma Metropolis’s depth shines once more
The Thunder’s reserves outscored the Lakers’ bench 34-15.
Jared McCain, a key trade-deadline acquisition for Oklahoma Metropolis in February, had 12 factors, all on 3-pointers. Isaiah Joe scored 9 factors and Alex Caruso did what he normally does offensively and defensively with 5 factors, two rebounds and two assists. Cason Wallace contributed 5 factors, 4 rebounds, three steals and two assists.
Already short-handed with Luka Dončić (strained left hamstring) sidelined, the Lakers have been hit with one other harm when backup Jarred Vanderbilt sustained a painful finger harm. It was the little finger on his proper hand, and he’s a left-handed shooter.
3. Too many errors, not sufficient offense dooms Lakers
Redick preferred a few of what he noticed. The Lakers held the Thunder to 108 factors, restricted Gilgeous-Alexander, one in all three finalists for Kia MVP this season, to 18 factors and compelled him to commit seven turnovers.
And he didn’t like a few of what he noticed.
“You’re taking part in the world champs, your margin for error by way of errors just isn’t that top,” he stated. “You may make errors. Basketball’s a sport filled with errors. There’s simply too many tonight. We’ve received to scrub that up. … We simply received to do a greater job with execution. It comes down to simply the eye to element on that. I do know we’ll clear issues up and be higher.”
Redick stated he was referring principally to his group’s protection.
However this was additionally the fourth consecutive sport during which the Lakers scored fewer than 100 factors. Los Angeles shot 41.7% from the sector and 10-for-30 on 3-pointers, and Lakers guards Austin Reaves and Marcus Good have been a mixed 7-for-31 from the sector and 2-for-13 on 3s.
Reaves, who’s working his manner again in sport kind from an indirect harm sustained towards the Thunder on April 2, was 3-for-16 and 0-for-5 and had 4 turnovers. This was his third sport again from that harm.
“He didn’t play effectively, however he’s going to bounce again,” Redick stated. “He is a superb participant.”
LeBron James led the Lakers with 27 factors on 12-for-17 capturing, and Rui Hachimura continued his robust capturing with 18 factors on 7-for-13 from the sector.
4. Not Gilgeous-Alexander’s finest however nonetheless good
Gilgeous-Alexander scored a minimum of 20 factors in each regular-season sport in 2025-26 and broke Wilt Chamberlain’s streak of 126 consecutive video games with a minimum of 20. He prolonged that streak to 140 video games by season’s finish.
However his 18 factors in Sport 1 – he had 18 in Sport 3 of the second spherical towards Denver final season – have been 13 factors fewer than his season common and 15 fewer than his playoff common this season. The seven turnovers have been 5 greater than his profession playoff common, and he tried simply three free throws after averaging 9.0 makes an attempt through the common season and 12.3 towards Phoenix within the first spherical.
Nonetheless, the 2024-25 Kia MVP was 8-for-15 from the sector, making photographs on the rim and within the mid-range, his specialty. Six assists and two blocks helped make his stat line within the field rating look higher, too.
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Jeff Zillgitt has lined the NBA since 2008. You’ll be able to e-mail him at jzillgitt@nba.com, discover his archive right here and follow him on X.