As Austin Reaves’ three-pointer from the right corner of the court soared into the air, Anthony Davis and three Oklahoma City Thunder players fought for position underneath the basket. Josh Giddey was pushed aside by Davis, who then leaped into Chet Holmgren as the ball whirled around the rim, knocking the 7-foot-1, 208-pound rookie center out of the game.
As every Thunder defender looked on helplessly, Davis quickly pulled the ball down and rocketed up for an uncontested slam after gaining inside position. He lingered on the edge for an additional thirty seconds, highlighting the impressive show.
When these two teams play this season, the sequence—among many others—that characterized the Lakers’ 116-104 victory over the Thunder at Crypto.com Arena on Monday has become accustomed. Even after winning 10 of their previous 14 games, the Lakers (34-29) are still in ninth place in the Western Conference. However, they have a 3-1 record versus the Thunder (42-19) this season, with LeBron James and Anthony Davis being able to penetrate the Thunder’s small lineup. The small-ball, five-out strategy used by OKC and LA’s style of play are a direct match, as the Lakers have dominated the Thunder in every game this season in terms of rim pressure, rebounds, and free throws.
The Lakers made it apparent they’re growing confident in their chances of making another deep playoff run given their head-to-head results against the Thunder and most of the rest of the conference, with Denver being an obvious exception. They wouldn’t go so far as to say they’d welcome a potential playoff series with Oklahoma City.
“It’s definitely about us,” Davis said. “Just trying to get inside. Although we’re a little bit behind schedule, we’re still in the game. Should we not make it to the final six, you will have to repeat the play-in round. Really, it doesn’t matter what seed we’re in. We demonstrated it the previous year. It makes no difference.The postseason is a different beast. We just focus on entering the game and taking out each opponent one at a time.
On Monday, Davis ended with a total of 24 points, 12 rebounds (four of which were offensive), 1 steal, and 3 blocks. With three consecutive three-pointers in the fourth quarter to help the Lakers put the game out of reach, D’Angelo Russell finished with 26 points and five threes. James contributed eight assists, eleven rebounds, and 19 points. Reaves finished with 16 points, 7 assists, and 6 rebounds. James played the remaining six minutes of the fourth quarter, while Davis was allowed to rest the whole time. With this season, the Lakers’ starting lineup is now 9-2 when playing together, and they put on another outstanding offensive performance.
But the Lakers prevailed thanks to their defense, which they haven’t played much of lately. The Thunder were limited to 104 points, which is the fewest points the Lakers had allowed since defeating the LA Clippers 103 points on January 7.
OKC surged out to early leads of 13-2 and 20-8, but the Lakers went on a 44-23 run to complete the first half and led 52-43 at the intermission. Despite committing 12 first-half turnovers, the Thunder missed 19 of their next 21 shots during that time, enabling the Lakers to seize the lead. The Thunder shot a season-low 30.6 percent in the first half of their back-to-back game after a thrilling victory in Phoenix.
Lakers head coach Darvin Ham said, “I told them at halftime it was the best defensive half I’ve seen all season.” “Just the way we battled to maintain possession of the ball, our movements behind the first defender, our assistance at the rim, and our effective ball rebounding. Well done, lads, on our defense. They came through with a fairly strong defense.
According to Ham, the Lakers used a large portion of their shootaround to hone their defensive strategy against the Thunder. They specifically concentrated on raising their hands to reduce MVP contender Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s number of free throws. Gilgeous-Alexander had the third-highest amount of attempts in the league going into the matchup, averaging 8.9 per contest. On Monday, he was 9 for 9, although only 3 of those shots were made in the second half.
Reaves was the starting unit’s main defender for Los Angeles versus Gilgeous-Alexander. Reaves was mostly effective in driving Gilgeous-Alexander, the star of the Thunder, into difficult, contested shots like the one below in the first quarter. The Lakers can eventually put up with such shots, even though Gilgeous-Alexander is capable of making them.
Davis said, “(Reaves) did a great job.” “Shai loves to go to his reverse-between, which is kind of like a little push-off, and get to his middy or the lane and utilize his pump-fakes and draw fouls and stuff like that, so he moves his feet knowing that. He thus did a terrific job of first making things difficult for him, funneling him to handle our defense, and setting up exciting confrontations.
When Reaves had to shut out on Gilgeous-Alexander after lending assistance somewhere else—a circumstance Gilgeous-Alexander often penalizes—he was just as successful. Reaves used a move made famous by former Rockets and Heat wing Shane Battier on this play: he hung back, kept his feet poised, and raised his arms over his waist before putting his hand in Gilgeous-Alexander’s face during the shot.
James said, “(Reaves) just accepted the challenge.” “Shai is undoubtedly one of the top players in our league, so the only thing to do is attempt to keep him away from the free throw line, where he gets a lot of his points. Thus, in my opinion, Austin was outstanding throughout.
As the bottom man in the Lakers’ help defense—his most successful defensive position in a half-court setting—James contributed by being disruptive. Using his quickness and anticipation, he blew up a lob to Holmgren and was typically in the correct place to keep the Thunder from scoring near the rim.
Regarding James’ defense, Ham said, “Just the reads he makes.” “His body is larger but he keeps low.” They attempt a lob, but as he approaches, the MIG (most important person) interferes with their throw. He did an excellent job closing out plays to keep the ball in front of players and cause uncertainty in their minds. When he’s that involved, he’s among the greatest. His communication skills and intuition are crucial. makes everyone feel confident.
Throughout the whole time, Davis won three of the four games in their head-to-head duel with Holmgren. Davis just outsizes the 21-year-old rookie Thunder big man in terms of size, strength, and intelligence. He sometimes has the appearance of Shaquille O’Neal at his best when facing the Thunder’s thin front line.
In especially on the boards, Davis was essential to the Lakers’ recovery from their disappointing showing against the Nuggets on Saturday. The Lakers were outrebounded 47–31 against Denver. They controlled the paint against OKC, outrebounding them 55–38, in a manner similar to how Denver often did against them.
“We recognize that time is of the essence,” Ham said. And in order to accomplish our goals, we need to get working. We did a fantastic job of picking ourselves up and moving on after that setback. shown a great deal of character in their response.
Ham said that Jarred Vanderbilt (foot) and Gabe Vincent (knee), two injured rotation players, should get an update the following week. The Lakers might make advantage of the defensive prowess of both players to make sure that, in contrast to back-to-back nights, performances like Monday’s can be maintained against other contenders.
Nevertheless, it’s become evident that the Lakers are more than capable of competing with at least one of the probable top four teams in the West, if not more. Though Los Angeles is 3-1 versus the Thunder and 3-1 against the LA Clippers, who are in fourth place, Denver may have the upper hand over the Lakers. The Lakers are 0-2 versus the Timberwolves, who are now in first place. However, one of those losses was due to James’ absence, while the other was a contentious loss. In the final stretch, the Lakers host them twice at home. That should be sufficient incentive for a team attempting to qualify for the playoffs by whatever means.
The Lakers’ next game is a critical one against the Sacramento Kings, which is one of the most significant games left in the season. Although they are theoretically three games behind the Kings in the loss column, the Lakers are just 1.5 games behind them in the standings (34–26). But the Lakers have a chance to control their own fate as they play them twice in the next week—at home and on the road.
According to Davis, “that’s a very important game.” “Within the next week or so, we play them twice. That game is going to be huge, and the one the following week is also going to be huge. We must enter and attend to business.
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