The Lakers caught a break. They just couldn’t take advantage of it.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander delivered one of his shakiest performances of the season Tuesday night, yet the Thunder still rolled to a 108-90 win in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals.
That says a lot about Oklahoma City.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored just 18 points and committed seven turnovers, both unusual numbers for the likely MVP. Even so, the Thunder controlled most of the night and held the Lakers to only 37 second-half points.
“This ain’t Shai versus the Lakers, it’s Lakers versus the Thunder,” LeBron James said, via ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. “We’re down 1-0. That’s the main thing.”
LeBron finished with 27 points on 12-of-17 shooting, but Los Angeles never consistently found offense without Luka Doncic, who remained sidelined with a hamstring injury.
Meanwhile, the Thunder showed why they’ve been viewed as the West favorite all season.
Chet Holmgren was outstanding with 24 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks, while Oklahoma City shot nearly 50 percent from the field and better than 43 percent from deep.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault admitted the performance was uneven at times, particularly after an eight-day layoff between playoff games.
“It obviously wasn’t clean,” he said. “We won an imperfect game tonight, and that’s a good thing.”
That’s probably the most concerning part for the Lakers.
Oklahoma City didn’t play close to its best basketball. It still won comfortably.
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