Category: Sports News

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Lakers, one again, were so close. 

But they kept getting in their own way in their 125-107 Game 2 loss to the Thunder at Paycom Center.

The Lakers had too many self-inflicted wounds, like their 21 turnovers for 26 OKC points.

Or the 17 second-chance points they allowed the Thunder to score, wasting the strong moments of halfcourt defense they had.

“We played well in spurts,” LeBron James said. “We had some really good minutes, obviously through three [quarters]. They were able to take a five-point lead in the third quarter and they made a run. Obviously, they kept scoring and they’re really good at exploiting matchups and things of that nature. But we had a good game plan. We tried to execute it as close to 48 minutes as possible, but it just didn’t get done.”

Even with Austin Reaves bouncing back from a purtid Game 1 performance with a playoff career-high 31 points to go with 6 assists, Game 2 was defined by the Lakers’ mistakes. 

And the Thunder capitalized off them. 

“They do a good job of capitalizing off turnovers,” Luke Kennard said. “Obviously, that’s going to be a big thing for us. We knew that going into it, their physicality. We gotta stay poised, under control when they go on those runs. I think we’ve done a pretty good job overall, but it’s gonna take a full, full 48 minutes.”

James had 23 points and 6 assists.

Rui Hachimura (16 points) and Kennard (10 points) combined for 26 points, but the Lakers wasted a strong shooting night (50% from the field, 37.9% on 3s).

Chet Holmgren led the Thunder with 22 points, 9 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 assists and 2 blocked shots.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 22 points. Ajay Mitchell recorded 20 points and 6 assists, while Jared McCain had 18 points off the bench.

What it means

The Lakers are now trailing 2-0 in the best-of-seven second round series. 

Under the 2-2-1-1-1 home/away pattern, the team with homecourt advantage has a 221-19 all-time record in playoff series after taking a 2-0 lead since the NBA moved to a 16-team playoff in 1984. 

Turning point 

When Gilgeous-Alexander picked up his fourth personal and a Flagrant Foul penalty one foul at the 10:34 mark of the third quarter.

Reaves made a pair of flagrant free throws, and a technical free throw after Alex Caruso was assessed a technical from the bench, to put the Lakers up 66-61 as Gilgeous-Alexander subbed out and went to the bench for the remainder of the quarter.

Usually, this would be a positive moment for an opponent when the reigning MVP has to watch nearly an entire quarter from the bench.  

That wasn’t the case for the Lakers, who were outscored 32-14 in the final 10 ½ minutes of the third.

Jared McCain (8 points), Holmgren (8) and Mitchell (7) combined for 23 points in the third, with the trio outscoring the Lakers, who had 22 points in the third.

“I talked about it a little bit [on Wednesday], them being plus-nine in the non-SGA minutes and then in the second half, we just got blitzed, 32-14, seven turnovers,” coach JJ Redick said. “They shot 14 free throws during that stretch. So we got to look at lineups, look at everything, try to figure out how we can be better in those minutes.”

MVP: Ajay Mitchell

The second-year guard continues his breakout season with another strong playoff performance.

He was the biggest reason why the Thunder won the non-Gilgeous-Alexander minutes in the second, scoring 11 points of his scoring total in the quarter.

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Stat of the game: 12

That’s how many points the Thunder outscored the Lakers by when Gilgeous-Alexander wasn’t on the floor before Redick subbed out his main rotation players with 2:14 left, with his team down 120-103.

The Lakers also struggled in the non-Gilgeous-Alexander minutes in Game 1, being outscored on Tuesday when Gilgeous-Alexander was on the bench.

Up next

Game 3 of Lakers-Thunder will tip off at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday at Crypto.com Arena.

With an early exit from the playoffs, it looks like there’s trouble in Celtics land.

There’s also reports out there that there might be something possible between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Boston Celtics.

It’s a trade that makes sense for both sides but if the Bucks decide they’re not interested in Brown maybe the Jazz could give them an offer that makes sense.

Here’s a trade that could make sense for both sides. If the Utah Jazz don’t jump in the NBA lottery, this trade makes some sense.

Lauri Markkanen and Jaylen Brown’s contracts match perfectly. If Utah ends up with the #6 or #7 pick, they could move that to Boston for Brown along with Markkanen and that might be enough to get it done. For Boston, they get a player that, even though he’s not the level of Brown, is still all-star caliber and they get a top ten pick.

For Utah, they get an upgrade and a player that fits better at the 3 and who’s also a huge upgrade defensively. It also fits all their pieces together much better. Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. are both at their best at the 4. This allows more cohesion with their team and a better defensive identity. A front court of Jaylen Brown, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Walker Kessler could be incredible defensively. On top of that, this would give Jaylen Brown the opportunity to be the lead dog of the Jazz. He wouldn’t be considered the Robing to another Batman and that could be appealing to him considering the frustrations he’s had in Boston.

It’s an interesting idea and we’ll see if it’s possible. What do you think? Is something like this a move the Jazz should consider?

The effort was being provided by all the Lakers at a high level and it was being led by LeBron James and Austin Reaves.

But the Lakers are facing the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals and it is a chore that remains too heavy for Los Angeles.

Even with Reaves recovering to score 31 points on 10-for-16 shooting and handing out six assists and James collecting 23 points and six assists, the Lakers still lost Game 2 of the best-of-seven series, 125-107, Thursday night at Paycom Center.

The Lakers trail the series 2-0, with Game 3 back in Los Angeles at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday night.

The odds have now increased against the Lakers winning this series. In NBA history, only 34 teams have recovered from a 2-0 hole to win a best-of-seven series, while 431 teams have gone on to win the series.

The Lakers even did a very good job again on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, throwing double teams at him to hold the All-Star guard to 22 points.

Chet Holmgren had another strong game with 22 points, nine rebounds, four steals and two blocks and Ajay Mitchell had 20 points for the Thunder.

The Lakers, who had a one-point lead at halftime, went down 13 points at the end of the third quarter, but a James three-pointer pulled them to within 95-89, forcing the Thunder to call a timeout with 8:57 left.

The Lakers even got to within five points in the fourth quarter, but a 10-2 run by the Thunder put L.A. in a 13-point hole with 5:53 left, this time forcing Lakers coach JJ Redick to call a timeout so his players could collect themselves.

The Lakers could not.

A big play was when Reaves took a charge against Gilgeous-Alexander with 10:34 left in the third quarter, which was his fourth foul. Gilgeous-Alexander was called for a flagrant foul on the play and Alex Caruso was called for a technical foul.

Reaves shot three free throws, making them all for a 66-61 Lakers lead.

Read more:Frustrated Luka Doncic breaks his silence; doctors forecasted he'd miss Thunder series

Gilgeous-Alexander then took a seat on the bench.

Yet the Lakers were unable to maintain their quality of play against a Thunder team that just kept charging ahead even with Gilgeous-Alexander on the bench.

The Thunder finished the third on an 18-8 run to open a 93-80 lead.

One of the many keys for the Lakers was getting a productive Reaves. It was just his fourth game back after being out a month because of a Grade 2 left hamstring strain, and it showed. Reaves missed 13 of his 16 shots in Game 1 and all five of his three-pointers, and scored just eight points.

Reaves didn’t make any excuses for his poor play.

“He’s got a great sense of self-accountability to where, you know, he’s his own worst critic and he’s going to hold himself to a standard of how he wants to play,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “Had a great conversation with him yesterday and today. He’ll be good to go.”

Reaves scored 13 points in the first half while distributing the ball.

He missed his first two shots, but finished the first half five-for-nine shooting.

Along with James scoring 10 points and handing out five assists, Rui Hachimura scoring 11 and Marcus Smart adding eight while doing his part to slow down Gilgeous-Alexander, the Lakers opened a 58-57 lead at the half.

The Lakers sent defenders at Gilgeous-Alexander often, double-teaming the league most valuable player and forcing the other Thunder players to shoot the basketball in the first half.

Gilgeous-Alexander only took nine shots in the first half and made four.

The Thunder shot just 25% from three-point range in the first 24 minutes.

Note: Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt was downgraded out for Game 2 because of a dislocated right pinkie finger.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Chet Holmgren and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander each scored 22 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Los Angeles Lakers 125-107 on Thursday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference semifinal series.

Ajay Mitchell had 20 points and Jaren McCain added 18 for the defending champion Thunder, who improved to 6-0 in the playoffs. The Lakers will host Game 3 on Saturday.

The Lakers again were without scoring champion Luka Doncic, who is out indefinitely with a strained left hamstring. They also were missing forward Jarred Vanderbilt, the reserve forward who dislocated the pinkie finger on his right hand during the second quarter of Game 1. The Lakers also had three players finish with five fouls, limiting their aggressiveness late in the game.

Lakers guard Austin Reaves, who struggled with his shot in Game 1, scored 31 points on 10-for-16 shooting in Game 2. LeBron James, coming off a 27-point effort in Game 1, followed that up with 23.

With the Lakers up 63-61 early in the third quarter, Gilgeous-Alexander got tied up with Reaves and was called for his fourth foul. Upon review, it was upgraded to a flagrant 1 for Gilgeous-Alexander’s follow through. Oklahoma City’s Alex Caruso was called for a technical foul as the situation was being sorted out.

Gilgeous-Alexander left the game with the Lakers up 65-61, but the Thunder rallied and took control without him. On a fast break, Holmgren found a trailing Jaylin Williams, who hit a 3-pointer and was fouled. His free throw put the Thunder up 85-74.

The Thunder outscored the Lakers 32-15 while Gilgeous-Alexander was out in the third quarter to take a 93-80 lead into the fourth. The Lakers cut Oklahoma City’s lead to five in the fourth quarter before the Thunder pulled away again.

PISTONS 107, CAVALIERS 97

DETROIT (AP) — Cade Cunningham had 25 points and 10 assists, Tobias Harris scored 21 points and Detroit beat Cleveland to take a 2-0 lead in their second-round series.

Game 3 is Saturday in Cleveland, where the Cavs were 4-0 in the first round against Toronto.

The top-seeded Pistons have won five straight games since Orlando put them on the brink of elimination in the first round.

Donovan Mitchell scored 31 points and Jarrett Allen had 22 points and seven rebounds, bouncing back from a poor performance in Game 1 for the fourth-seeded Cavs.

James Harden, though, missed 10 of 13 shots and was limited to 10 points. Harden had four turnovers, including one with 33 seconds left when the Cavs trailed by just six.

Cleveland’s Max Strus scored just three points after he had 19 in the series opener.

Detroit’s Duncan Robinson had 17 points, making 5 of 9 3-pointers, and Daniss Jenkins came off the bench to score 14 points, his third straight game in double figures.

PHILADELPHIA — The Knicks and the 76ers have major health questions as the Eastern Conference semifinal series shifts to Xfinity Mobile Arena on Friday night. 

The two centers, Joel Embiid and Mitchell Robinson, missed Game 2.

Robinson (illness) is probable to return and Embiid (sprained right ankle, right hip soreness) is questionable.

Knicks guard Josh Hart is also questionable due to a sprained left thumb. 

Hart suffered the injury late in the third quarter but was able to finish the game and play most of the final quarter. 

Of the three, Embiid is likely the biggest question mark.

On Tuesday, he woke up sore, 76ers coach Nick Nurse said, and the team determined after shootaround that day he wouldn’t be able to play.

Andre Drummond started in Embiid’s place. 

The oft-injured Embiid missed the first three games of the playoffs after undergoing an emergency appendectomy late in the regular season.

In Game 1 against the Knicks, he struggled on the defensive end, and shot just 3-of-11 from the field while scoring 14 points in a blowout defeat. 

One key to the Knicks’ postseason run has been their ability to force turnovers.

Of the eight teams remaining, only the Thunder are forcing more in the playoffs.

The opposition is committing 15.6 per game against the Knicks.

That number is up from 14.4 during the regular season. 

It has been a major strength so far against the 76ers, who are averaging 18.5 turnovers in the two games.

Tyrese Maxey has turned it over 10 times, six coming in Game 2.

The Knicks have turned Philadelphia’s 37 turnovers into 48 points.

Former Knick and NBA veteran P.J. Tucker announced his retirement on Thursday, hanging up his sneakers after a professional basketball career that spanned parts of two decades. 

Tucker, 41, played three games for the Knicks during his final season in the NBA last year, and his career included time with the Raptors, Suns, Rockets, Bucks, Heat, 76ers and Clippers. 

“[Twenty] years being my job but 40 plus years of not being able to fathom doing anything other than it. So here’s to retiring from the NBA… because I will NEVER stop ballin,” he wrote on Instagram Thursday alongside a carousel of photos from across his career in the league.

The pinnacle of Tucker’s NBA career came in 2021 as part of the Bucks’ championship-winning team.

He was dealt from the Rockets to the Buckets before the trade deadline and appeared in 20 regular season games and another 23 in the playoffs. 

Tucker averaged 4.3 points in 29.6 minutes per game during the postseason. 

He was originally selected by the Raptors with the 35th overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft right out of high school, but failed to earn much playing time and eventually found himself in the G League. 

The Raptors waived him in late March of his rookie season, and Tucker failed to find another NBA team to play for — kicking off a five-year run of playing overseas in Israel, Ukraine, Greece, Italy and Germany.

Tucker found his way back to the NBA in 2012 with the Suns. 

Over the course of his career, Tucker played in 886 NBA games and averaged 6.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 0.3 blocks per game.

The Lakers once again saw a tight game turn into a double-digit loss on Thursday. LA held a lead midway through the third but again saw the Thunder pull away in the fourth to win by double digits, 125-107.

The purple and gold had one of its best quarters of the postseason in the second, outscoring OKC 35-30 to lead by one at the half. They held the lead through the early stages of the second half before the Thunder took over and never looked back.

Nineteen LA turnovers turned into 26 OKC points while the Thunder also had 17 second-chance points and 48 points off the bench.

LA missed their first two shot attempts from behind the arc to start. OKC went up by as much as seven until Rui Hachimura converted on a midrange jumper to get the Lakers on the board.

Isaiah Hartenstein was off to a hot start for the Thunder with six points. 

Hachimura was leading Los Angeles with five points, while LeBron was close behind with four. The Lakers surged on a 7-0 scoring run to tie the game. OKC had a quick response with their own 11-0 run. 

Los Angeles was now shooting 33% from the field.

Jaxson Hayes and LeBron stopped the bleeding with back-to-back shots in the paint. Hachimura then splashed a triple that cut the deficit to four at the end of the first. 

Jared McCain converted on a midrange jumper to open the second period. Ajay Mitchell provided a massive spark for the Thunder as he was up to nine points. Marcus Smart and Austin Reaves both knocked down much-needed 3-pointers for LA.

At the 7:50 mark, Oklahoma City was up by five. 

Mitchell poured in four more points before he was subbed out. Reaves converted on his second three-point play in this half. He was the first player on the Lakers in double figures with 13, a much better showing and effort than Game 1. 

Smart put LA up by one with four minutes left in the half. 

Los Angeles continued playing well, with Luke Kennard and Hachimura both draining threes. With 2:13 now left in the half, the Lakers were nursing a tiny lead. Both teams spent the last minute of the half exchanging the lead, with the purple and gold heading into the locker room up one. 

Chet Holmgren opened the second half with a jumper in the paint for OKC. Hachimura then continued his ridiculous shooting with another triple. Reaves scored on a midrange jumper before being fouled on the other end by SGA. The play was upgraded to a flagrant one along with Alex Caruso receiving a technical, so Reaves made three free throws in a row to give LA a five-point lead.

Lu Dort drained a 3-pointer to cut into the lead. 

Reaves responded with a triple on the other end. The Thunder then scored four of the easiest points to make it a one-point OKC deficit. Cason Wallace converted on two free throws to put Oklahoma up by one.

OKC was up by seven at the 4:04 mark. 

Everything was going in the way of the defending champs as they were on an extended 23-5 scoring run to give themselves a double-digit lead. The Thunder took full control, leading by 13 heading into the fourth. 

After a pair of turnovers, Hachimura opened LA’s scoring with his signature midrange jumper. Los Angeles cut the deficit to six with a 7-0 run, with LeBron scoring five points. 

The Thunder were forced to call a timeout. 

Out of the break, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored on a layup. The Lakers were keeping close, but their turnover count was now at 19. With seven minutes left, it was an eight-point deficit for Los Angeles. 

At the 5:53 mark, the Thunder were up by double figures after an 8-0 run.

The lead continued to grow as LA completely ran out of steam and didn’t have enough offense to keep it close. The Lakers waved the white flag with 2:14 left and down 17. 

Key Player Stats

LeBron finished with 23 points and six assists. Reaves ended with 31 points and six assists. Hachimura notched 16 points, shooting an impressive 6-10 from the field and 4-7 from three. 

Smart logged 14 points with five assists and four rebounds. Kennard had 10 points, Hayes scored six points to go with his three rebounds and two assists. 

Game 3 will be on Saturday against the Oklahoma City Thunder at 5:30 PM PT.

You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.

One could argue that Sunday marks one of the biggest days the Jazz have seen in a long time, easily the biggest since the Jazz were in a very similar situation a year ago. While the 2026 NBA Draft has recently lost a lot of its depth, it remains incredibly strong at the top, and anyone lucky enough to select in the top four will be adding a potential franchise-changing talent. Last season the Jazz had the worst record in the association and held a 52.1% chance at a top four pick and a 14% chance at the number one pick. As we all know, the worst-case scenario came as the Jazz fell to the fifth pick before selecting Ace Bailey. This season the Jazz finished tied for the fourth-worst record with the Sacramento Kings, requiring a coin flip to decide who gets the tiebreaker. Luckily the Jazz won that coin flip, but what does that mean for the odds at each pick?

The Jazz have a 45.2% chance at a top four pick and an 11.5% chance at the number one pick, but it goes a little deeper than that. The worst-case scenario last year was falling to five. This year the worst-case scenario would be falling to eight, but that is very unlikely. Compared to last year, there was about a 48% chance we’d be selecting fifth. The odds for each pick are listed below.

• First-11.5%
• Second-11.4%
• Third-11.2%
• Fourth-11%
• Fifth-7.5%
• Sixth-27.1%
• Seventh-17.9%
• Eighth-2.4%

How do those odds make you feel? Hopeful? Nervous? Scared? Excited? The Jazz have NEVER moved up in the lottery, but there’s always a first time for everything. While the sixth and seventh positions are the two highest probabilities by quite a large margin, there’s still a 55% chance we won’t be picking seventh or eighth! So here’s to hoping Sunday is an amazing day for the Jazz and their future.

Everyone wear your lucky shirt on Sunday, and if that’s the same shirt you wore last year… get a new lucky shirt. If you have any superstitions, listen to them. Do anything you can to give the Jazz that edge on Sunday! The NBA Draft Lottery is this Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Mountain Time on ABC.

After Cam Thomas got dumped by both Brooklyn and Milwaukee this season, former teammate Michael Porter Jr. said it was more about attitude than ability. 

“There’s a lot more to the NBA and sticking around than just [scoring],” Porter said in a revelation that always seemed to escape Thomas. “For Cam, I think it was a mixture of he was frustrated with a lot of things, and also his personality … he doesn’t really socialize. He’ll come to the gym sometimes and he’ll say like two words all day, all practice. He doesn’t really talk to anybody. 

“I don’t think he does it in a way where he’s trying to be a bad teammate; I just think that’s him. But when it comes to a team being willing to pay you and come off that money and you’re a No. 1 option, it comes with so much more. I don’t know if he was willing to break out of his personality and be talkative and try to be a leader and bring guys together. I think that’s kind of what happened here in Brooklyn.” 

Porter was speaking on the “Road Trippin’ Show” podcast about a broad range of topics, including about him being a No. 1 option on a team. 

It’s a role that Thomas viewed himself capable of filling, and the young guard did average team-highs of 22.5 points and 24.0 points in the past two seasons for the Nets. But after rejecting multiple contracts from the Nets last summer — a two-year, $30 million deal with a team option, or a one-year, $9.5 million pact — he ultimately settled for the $5.98 million qualifying offer. 

In the end, Thomas managed just 15.6 points in an injury-marred campaign and got waived by Brooklyn. He got picked up by Milwaukee, but cut loose there as well. While he flashed the ability to get buckets, his shortcomings in terms of defense, playmaking, and — ultimately — self-awareness see him now unemployed. 

“I know he was frustrated about the contract the year before, and the fact that Brooklyn didn’t really pay him how he wanted,” Porter said. “He’s thinking talent-wise, he’s thinking as good as Austin Reaves, he’s as good as Jalen Green, he’s as good as this guy or that guy, and they’re getting paid $100 million contracts. So I understand that part. But I knew when he left Brooklyn, I’m like, man, over there in Milwaukee he better change a couple of these things or else it’s going to be tough for him. 

“And when he first got there, they were raving about him because he had a few good games. Doc Rivers was complimenting him and everything. And then I’m sure he had a bad game and kind of went back into his shell a little bit. It can come off like he has an attitude, but really that’s just him. And then I think from there it was downhill. But when it comes to being a basketball player and a talent, he’s up there with the best of them.” 

Porter added he may take as many shots as Thomas, “but the time the ball was in my hands was a fraction.” He expressed confidence he can be a top scorer on a contender, but says the Nets adding a backcourt playmaker — via the lottery, trade or signing — will let them take a step forward. 

“A No. 1 option on a championship-caliber team? I’m not about to sit here and say that I don’t think I can take on a big responsibility on a championship team, because I do, but I definitely would need some help with me,” Porter said. “If I got another guy over here who really is able to create and draw some attention, and now I’m getting two or three wide-open 3s a game, I think it would really help us.”