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The Lakers came into their series against the Thunder aware that fouls and officiating would be a talking point. Before the series even started, head coach JJ Redick made sarcastic comments about how little OKC fouls.

There was no laughing at the final whistle of Thursday’s Game 2 loss, though. Following a night when LA felt they were repeatedly on the wrong end of whistles — or weren’t even receiving them in some cases — they let their frustrations be known, both on and off the court.

After the final buzzer, multiple Lakers circled around official John Goble for an animated conversation.

Once in the back, they continued sounding off, led by Redick himself

“I sarcastically said the other day they were the most disruptive team without fouling,” Redick said. “I mean, they have a few guys that foul on every possession and all the good defenses do. [Shai Gilgeous-Alexander] gets like, I don’t even know, a touch foul, I guess, on a drive. There was a stretch where, four straight possessions, our guys got absolutely clobbered.”

“They’re hard enough to play. You’ve got to be able to just call it if they foul. And they do foul.”

The Lakers did well to manage their frustrations, not allowing it to boil over into their play. It was a notable accomplishment given how heated many of them were, none more so than Reaves. Following a sequence that ended with a Cason Wallace 3-pointer that forced a Lakers timeout, Reaves had to be pulled away from Goble.

Following the game, Reaves explained that his anger stemmed from a sequence preceding that in which he felt like Goble disrespected him.

“When we were doing the whole tip ball, they were switching spots,” Reaves said. “I wanted to get on the other side because they had a guy on the other side. We were just trying to keep an advantage. He turned around and just yelled in my face.

“I just thought it was disrespectful…But at the end of the day, we’re grown men and I just didn’t feel like he needed to yell in my face like that. I told him that. I wasn’t disrespectful. I told him if I did that to him first, I would have got a tech. I felt the only reason I didn’t get a tech was he knew he was in the wrong.”

Another subject of frustration centered on LeBron and the fouls not being called. Through two games this series, he’s shot just five free throws.

“LeBron has the worst whistle of any star player I’ve ever seen,” Redick said. “I’ve been with him two years now. The smaller guys, because they can be theatric, they typically draw more fouls. The bigger players that are built like LeBron, it’s hard for them. But he gets clobbered and he got clobbered again tonight a bunch.

“That’s not a new thing that’s specific to this crew or this series. He gets fouled a lot and it doesn’t happen. The guy gets hit on the head more than any player I’ve seen on drives and it rarely gets called.”

On Thursday, there were several questionable calls that left the Lakers upset. Early in the game, LeBron finished a layup through contact from Jaylin Williams that knocked him to the ground and left him limping briefly, but no foul was called.

In the second half, LeBron looked to have drawn a foul on a shot and converted the off-balance jumper for, again, what looked to be a clear and-one. Instead, the officials waved off the basket, calling the foul on the floor.

While LeBron was ready to speak his mind, LeBron took the complete opposite approach, refusing to say a word about the officiating after the game.

It all culminated in the frustrations boiling over at the final buzzer and in the press conferences. Still, as frustrated as the team was, Redick was clear that was not the reason they lost.

“We didn’t lose because of the refs,” Redick said. “That’s never the case. You don’t lose because of refs. You lose because the other team outplays you and Oklahoma City outplayed us.”

Fines are likely to come for the Lakers, both for their on-court actions and off-court comments. It won’t be the first time it happens this postseason, either.

Still, on a night with 45 fouls, a half-dozen reviews and a lot of questionable decisions, it’s understandable the Lakers walked away from this game feeling aggrieved.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.

After a 133-95 rout of the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game Two, the San Antonio Spurs will head to Minneapolis looking to steal a game and regain home-court advantage. Much like they did in round one of the playoffs, the Spurs head into Game Three with a bit of uncertainty.

The Timberwolves are undefeated at home in the playoffs this season. Their games in Minnesota legitimately swung their first-round series with the Denver Nuggets. While the Spurs dominated Game Two, things could swing the other way on the road.

San Antonio will come into Game Three with a fully healthy roster. The Wolves are still dealing with injuries to key players on their roster. Ayo Dosumnu is questionable, now with a heel injury rather than the calf injury that kept him out of Game One. Anthony Edwards remains questionable, despite playing in the first two games. Those injuries haven’t held the Wolves back from making this a competitive series so far.

Game Two should fill the Spurs with confidence. But as Victor Wembanyama told reporters after the game, “when you win, you’re never as good as you think you are.” They’ll have to prove that Game Two wasn’t just a flash in the pan, but a sign of a team learning how to win this series.

San Antonio Spurs (1-1) vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (1-1)

May 8th, 2026 | 8:30 PM CT

Watch: Amazon Prime | Listen: WOAI (1200 AM)

Spurs Injuries: No injuries to report.

Timberwolves Injuries: Donte DiVincenzo – Out (achilles), Ayo Dosunmu – Questionable (heel), Anthony Edwards – Questionable (knee)

What to watch for:

Stephon Castle’s fouls

Castle had five fouls in 24 minutes on Wednesday night. He was dangerously close to fouling out for the third straight game. It makes sense why Castle is racking up the fouls. He’s consistently guarding the Wolves’ best perimeter defender or banging inside with Julius Randle. He’s being forced to fight around screens and battle with the Wolves for 50/50 balls. He’s been the driving physical force for the Spurs in this series. They need him to maintain that level of physicality while keeping the foul count low.

Three-point shooting

Not to simplify the game, but sometimes winning does come down to making shots. The Spurs were abysmal from three in Game One’s loss, shooting 28% from deep. In Game Two’s blowout, San Antonio shot 41% from three. The contrast in the offense in those two games was stark. When the Spurs are hitting shots, it opens up lanes for their drivers to get to the basket. They got their best looks from three when they pushed the ball up the floor to get easy shots early in the shot clock. The Wolves will certainly try to slow the game down a bit in Game Three. San Antonio should continue to push the pace to create those easy looks that will open up their offense.

Guard play

San Antonio’s most significant advantage in this series has been its guards. If De’Aaron Fox, Dylan Harper, and Castle are playing at their best, the Wolves don’t have the guard play to keep up with them. With Edwards clearly playing through an injury and Mike Conley past his prime, the Wolves have had difficulty getting to the basket. The Spurs outscored Minnesota 58-36 in the paint in Game Two.

Mitch Johnson’s strategy has been to blitz the Wolves’ ball-handlers, sending two defenders at the ball, forcing them to pass and oftentimes, turn it over. Minnesota had 22 turnovers in Game Two. Expect the Spurs to keep pressuring Minnesota’s ball-handlers in hopes of replicating this result in Game Three.

One of the things that separates good teams from great teams is depth.

Look back to the 2020 Lakers. They had 10 realistic options they could turn to in the playoffs and all had moments. They could pull in an Alex Caruso for a Game 6 to seal the series, a move that made them go small one series after leaning on JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard.

It’s a trait the great teams have. Not just depth, but reliable depth. Guys who can not only step onto the court when needed, but produce at a high level. This Thunder team has that in abundance.

Through two games, the Lakers have done a fantastic job on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. But that has led to Ajay Mitchell, Chet Holmgren and Jared McCain all stepping up. The Thunder come at you wave after wave after wave.

Eventually, the dam bursts for good teams. The Lakers have seen second-half runs in Games 1 and 2 turn close games into blowouts. At a certain point, LA is running out of steam because they don’t have the necessary depth and when that moment comes, OKC buries a backbreaking three to cap off a big run.

In about 85% of the two games in Oklahoma City, the Lakers have played the Thunder relatively even. That 15%, though, is a gap that LA might not be able to close.

So, let’s dive into the loss. As always, grades are based on expectations for each player. A “B” grade represents the average performance for that player.

LeBron James

38 minutes, 23 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, 3 turnovers, 1 foul, 9-18 FG, 1-4 3PT, 4-4 FT, -9

This wasn’t quite the same performance he had in Game 1, but it was still great. The ball wasn’t in his hands as much, a result of Austin Reaves returning back to form. But he was still efficient and had big baskets.

His early pins on fastbreaks led to a couple of layups. He hit back-to-back baskets in the four to close the lead to five. Unfortunately, there weren’t many others in purple and gold at his level.

Grade: A-

Rui Hachimura

39 minutes, 16 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls, 6-10 FG, 4-7 3PT, -19

Not enough has been made about Rui has a playoff riser. With Thursday’s 4-7 shooting from range, he now has 12 straight games overall shooting at least 50% from range. He is up to 10 straight postseason games shooting at least 50% from three, dating back to the Wolves series last season.

What’s important is not just that he’s making threes, but he’s taking them. He’s in an absolute groove and is freely firing away.

Grade: A-

Deandre Ayton

27 minutes, 3 points, 10 rebounds, 2 turnovers, 3 fouls, 1-7 FG, 1-2 FT, -4

This was not a great Ayton game. It started off alright, though most of his contributions came in the form of good screen setting and things that don’t show up in the box score.

However, that only goes so far and the box-score production has to come at some point. As the game progressed, things got worse with a bad turnover in the fourth and then a poor closeout on Chet that led to free throws. He came out after that play and didn’t return for the final 6:47.

The Lakers aren’t going to have a chance to win if Ayton isn’t great.

Grade: D+

Austin Reaves

38 minutes, 31 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 turnovers, 5 fouls, 10-16 FG, 3-6 3PT, 8-10 FT, -20

The apology should be as loud as the disrespect.

It turns out that three bad games after a month out with injury do not define a player. This is who Reaves has been. And this is who the Lakers need Reaves to be this series.

There were a couple of moments, particularly early, where Reaves was a bit out of control and either turned the ball over or forced up a bad shot. But he really found a groove late in the first quarter and was everything the Lakers needed.

He was picking apart the Thunder defense and either finishing in the mid-range or at the rim or finding open shooters.

Unfortunately, he’s back to throwing bad lobs again, but it seems like a trade-off the Lakers will take.

Grade: A

Marcus Smart

34 minutes, 14 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers, 5 fouls, 4-13 FG, 1-7 3PT, 5-5 FT, +2

This was a lot of Marcus Smart. Too much, in fact.

There’s been plenty of discussion about Reaves needing to catch the moving train and get up to speed with the team. There hasn’t been as much discussion about the adjustment the team has to make to Reaves, though.

Specifically when it comes to Smart, the Lakers needed him to be a creator for himself and others against the Rockets. They could live with the bad possessions — to an extent — because they had no other option.

But now that Reaves is back, that’s not what they need out of him. He hasn’t adjusted to that, though. The result on Thursday was too many possessions where he’s trying to create something out of nothing when Austin and LeBron are on the floor.

We’re also to the point that there’s nothing more Smart can say about turnovers and taking blame. We’re seven games into this postseason and years into Smart’s career. The lazy entry passes that get stolen by the Thunder are just flat out unacceptable.

Grade: C-

Luke Kennard

26 minutes, 10 points, 1 rebound, 2 fouls, 4-5 FG, 2-3 3PT, -15

It was nice to see Kennard be more aggressive with his shot, which the Lakers need from him. If he could adopt Rui’s mindset of firing away when he has an inch of space, we might be cooking.

Grade: B

Jaxson Hayes

15 minutes, 6 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, 5 fouls, -11

We’re oscillating between Hayes being unplayable and average. Game 2, he was unplayable.

Perhaps it’s the nerves or trying too hard, but there were multiple occasions on Thursday where he was jumping around on the perimeter when Thunder players weren’t even shot faking, leading to either open lanes or open threes.

Mix in some bad turnovers and illegal screens and the Lakers had to try to finish the game going small, which absolutely did not work.

The Lakers need their centers to be better.

Grade: D

Jake LaRavia

10 minutes, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 0-2 FG, 0-1 3PT, -14

This is probably the game that is the point of no return for LaRavia. Against Houston, there was just enough positive to warrant him playing. It was also a series that was already a rock fight and he could play that style. In fact, Game 6 was probably his best game of the postseason.

But more is needed against the Thunder and he is absolutely not stepping up. I was willing to give him some benefit of the doubt on the foul of Jaylin Williams’ three because it looked to be pretty clearly a kick out. But he then immediately followed that with a foul on Holmgren underneath the basket.

I wouldn’t be surprised if those were his final minutes of the series.

Grade: F

Adou Thiero

6 minutes, 3 rebounds, 1 turnover, 1 foul, +3

Realistically, Thiero didn’t really get enough minutes for a grade. But I did want to exclude him from the garbage time group because he actually did play meaningful minutes.

He didn’t really have an opportunity to do anything good or bad. But given the state of the rest of the bench, he should get more run in Game 3.

Grade: B

Dalton Knecht, Bronny James, Nick Smith Jr.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Bronny James got minutes in Game 3. Perhaps Nick Smith Jr. as well, though the Lakers seemed to find some solutions offensively. Still, a shake up isn’t the worst thing down 2-0 in the series.

JJ Redick

The Lakers went back to the drawing board offensively and found all the answers. They broke the 100-point barrier for the first time in five games. And they still were able to limit Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as well.

Specifically, that second quarter was perhaps the best quarter the team has played this postseason, especially given the opposition.

Again, for 85% of this series, the Lakers have more or less matched the Thunder. That this is even competitive for that much is a testament to the coaching staff. They’ve had two great gameplans.

It just seems to be becoming clearer and clearer that the team doesn’t have the horses that OKC does in this series.

Grade: A-

Thursday’s DNPs: Maxi Kleber

Thursday’s inactives: Jarred Vanderbilt, Luka Dončić

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.

Oklahoma City Thunder (64-18, first in the Western Conference) vs. Los Angeles Lakers (53-29, fourth in the Western Conference)

Los Angeles; Saturday, 8:30 p.m. EDT

LINE: Thunder -8.5; over/under is 211.5

WESTERN CONFERENCE SECOND ROUND: Thunder lead series 2-0

BOTTOM LINE: The Oklahoma City Thunder visit the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference second round with a 2-0 lead in the series. The Thunder won the last matchup 125-107 on Friday, led by 22 points from Chet Holmgren. Austin Reaves led the Lakers with 31.

The Lakers are 33-19 in conference matchups. Los Angeles averages 116.3 points and has outscored opponents by 1.7 points per game.

The Thunder have gone 41-11 against Western Conference opponents. Oklahoma City is eighth in the Western Conference with 25.8 assists per game led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander averaging 6.6.

The Lakers average 11.8 made 3-pointers per game this season, 2.5 fewer makes per game than the Thunder allow (14.3). The Thunder are shooting 48.4% from the field, 0.1% higher than the 48.3% the Lakers' opponents have shot this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: LeBron James is averaging 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists for the Lakers. Rui Hachimura is averaging 16.4 points over the past 10 games.

Gilgeous-Alexander is scoring 31.1 points per game with 4.3 rebounds and 6.6 assists for the Thunder. Holmgren is averaging 16.0 points and 7.9 rebounds while shooting 61.1% over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Lakers: 6-4, averaging 103.6 points, 40.4 rebounds, 25.3 assists, 8.9 steals and 5.3 blocks per game while shooting 48.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 100.5 points per game.

Thunder: 8-2, averaging 118.5 points, 42.4 rebounds, 27.4 assists, 10.2 steals and 5.2 blocks per game while shooting 49.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 107.8 points.

INJURIES: Lakers: Luka Doncic: out (hamstring), Jarred Vanderbilt: day to day (finger).

Thunder: Jalen Williams: out (hamstring), Thomas Sorber: out for season (knee).

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

Detroit Pistons (60-22, first in the Eastern Conference) vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (52-30, fourth in the Eastern Conference)

Cleveland; Saturday, 3 p.m. EDT

LINE: Cavaliers -4.5; over/under is 212.5

EASTERN CONFERENCE SECOND ROUND: Pistons lead series 2-0

BOTTOM LINE: The Detroit Pistons visit the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference second round with a 2-0 lead in the series. The Pistons won the last meeting 107-97 on Thursday, led by 25 points from Cade Cunningham. Donovan Mitchell led the Cavaliers with 31.

The Cavaliers are 33-19 in Eastern Conference games. Cleveland has a 2-5 record in games decided by less than 4 points.

The Pistons are 12-4 against the rest of their division. Detroit is fourth in the league scoring 18.0 fast break points per game led by Cunningham averaging 3.7.

The Cavaliers make 48.2% of their shots from the field this season, which is 3.9 percentage points higher than the Pistons have allowed to their opponents (44.3%). The Pistons average 117.8 points per game, 2.4 more than the 115.4 the Cavaliers allow to opponents.

TOP PERFORMERS: Mitchell is scoring 27.9 points per game with 4.5 rebounds and 5.7 assists for the Cavaliers. James Harden is averaging 17.6 points and 5.1 rebounds while shooting 42.3% over the past 10 games.

Cunningham is averaging 23.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 9.9 assists for the Pistons. Tobias Harris is averaging 21.6 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Cavaliers: 5-5, averaging 111.1 points, 44.3 rebounds, 22.4 assists, 8.0 steals and 4.8 blocks per game while shooting 47.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 110.6 points per game.

Pistons: 7-3, averaging 106.8 points, 46.4 rebounds, 22.8 assists, 8.6 steals and 8.0 blocks per game while shooting 45.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 100.3 points.

INJURIES: Cavaliers: Sam Merrill: day to day (hamstring).

Pistons: Kevin Huerter: day to day (adductor).

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

Winning on the road is tough, but beating the Thunder in OKC feels impossible.

The Lakers did a lot right in their Game 2 loss. They got a much better offensive game from Austin Reaves, won the points-in-the-paint battle 52-46 and Rui Hachimura remained elite, scoring 16 points on 60% shooting.

But the Thunder outscored the Lakers 36-22 in the third quarter to turn this game from a close contest to a blowout win for OKC.

Now, JJ Redick and the Lakers find themselves down 2-0 in this series and head home still looking to play a full 48 minutes.

Perhaps the uncomfortable truth is they just don’t have the personnel to play such a perfect game.

Losing the Shai Gilgeous-Alexander minutes

There are plenty of reasons the Lakers lost, but the main culprit was their play in the third quarter, particularly when Shai-Gilgeous Alexander was off the floor.

SGA went to the bench after earning his fourth foul at the 10:34 mark. With Reaves knocking down three subsequent free throws, LA was in front by five.

This was a golden opportunity for the Lakers to take advantage. Winning the minutes when SGA is off the floor is something Lakers head coach JJ Redick said was necessary after practice on Wednesday.

Apparently, the purple and gold didn’t get the memo.

Chet Holmgren began feasting inside. Then Jared McCain scored five straight points, and after Jaylin Williams knocked down a three and was fouled on the shot, the crowd erupted and LA’s lead had evaporated.

The Thunder continued to pile on, going on a 32-14 run while SGA watched from the bench. This was the turning point of the game as the Lakers never led again.

LA has done a great job containing SGA. He scored 18 points in Game 1 and only scored 22 on Thursday.

However, OKC is so dominant because of its tremendous team. The Lakers have allowed McCain to torch them in both games. Chet has been great as well, and Ajay Mitchell once again had another strong performance. If LA doesn’t find a way to contain them, this will be a sweep.

Welcome back, Austin Reaves

One of the silver linings was the play of Reaves. He struggled massively in Game 1, but had a bounce back performance in Game 2. He continued to attack the paint, but finished strong at the rim this game. He went 10-16 from the field, shot 50% from deep and 80% from the charity stripe.

Add in his six assists, and Reaves put LA in a position to remain competitive in this contest.

Now, if he can start as well as he finished and limit his turnovers, LA will have a great chance of winning one of their upcoming home games.

The noise surrounding Reaves was overblown in Game 1.

He is a proven player, and one game doesn’t take away from all he has done over the years as a Laker. Still, recency bias is a thing, and it was good for him and the team that Reaves was able to be an impactful player for LA.

With Luka Dončić out, they’ll need all the help they can get in the backcourt to generate some points.

Who can be a responsible adult?

Before the game, Redick said he’d play a nine-man rotation. He barely did with only eight players logging at least 10 minutes. And Jake LaRavia barely cracked the 10-minute mark.

Redick looked for answers playing Adou Thiero in the first half, but while the minutes weren’t bad, they were unimpactful. And with LaRavia playing so poorly, there don’t seem to be many bench players who can play at this level.

Redick has to try something, though.

Can Redick find some responsible adults? Some players who can be depended on to be positive and at least eat up a handful of minutes?

It might be time to play Nick Smith Jr. and see if he can give the Lakers an offensive spark. Maxi Kleber can play some five and give Deandre Ayton a break. Even Bronny James can slot in for a moment to start the second, as he did against the Rockets.

So far, the Lakers haven’t found a winning recipe, so Redick has to throw the kitchen sink at OKC and see if he can find something that gets him a win.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers battled the Oklahoma City Thunder but were unable to even the NBA second-round series on Thursday, May 7.

Instead, the Lakers fall to 0-2 in the series and move one step closer to potentially being swept by the defending champions.

The Lakers continue to miss point guard Luka Doncic, and his absence is apparent after the Lakers turned the ball over 20 times, trying to move the ball around and generate some offense. The Thunder were able to produce 26 points off the Lakers' turnovers.

Austin Reaves was responsible for five, while LeBron James and Marcus Smart each had three. Reaves did carry the offense, shooting 10-of-16 from the field for 31 points.

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.