Ajay Mitchell scored 18 of his 24 points in the second half and the Oklahoma City Thunder dominated the final 24 minutes en route to a convincing 131-108 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3 of their Western Conference second-round series on Saturday night.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 23 points and nine assists as the defending champion Thunder took a commanding 3-0 series lead and improved to 7-0 this postseason. Chet Holmgren had 18 points and nine rebounds, Cason Wallace added 16 points off the bench and Mitchell also had 10 assists.
“The confidence I got from my teammates and our coaching staff has been amazing from Day 1,” Mitchell said. “That’s the key.”
The Thunder trailed by two points at halftime before steamrolling Los Angeles 74-49 in the second half.
Rui Hachimura made five 3-pointers and scored a team-high 21 points, and LeBron James added 19 points, eight assists and six rebounds for the Lakers. Luke Kennard had 18 points off the bench and Austin Reaves had 17 points and nine assists for Los Angeles.
The Thunder can complete the sweep in Monday’s Game 4 at Los Angeles. No team in NBA history has come back to win a playoff series from a 3-0 deficit.
“Absolutely,” Gilgeous-Alexander said about wanting to complete the sweep. “You never want to waste an opportunity to win a basketball game. We just need to do the same thing we did the first three games.”
The loss dropped the Lakers to 0-7 this season against Oklahoma City with an average losing margin of 25.1 points.
“They are pretty good from top to bottom and they don’t take their foot off the gas,” James said.
The Lakers once again missed NBA scoring champion Luka Doncic. Oklahoma is playing without its second-best player in Jalen Williams. Both players are sidelined with hamstring injuries.
Oklahoma City shot 56.4% from the field, including 17 of 38 from 3-point range. Isaiah Hartenstein had 12 points and nine rebounds, Isaiah Joe scored 12 points on four 3-pointers and Luguentz Dort had 10 points. Wallace also made four 3-pointers for the Thunder.
The Lakers made 46.9% of their attempts and were 14 of 30 from beyond the arc. Marcus Smart and Deandre Ayton added 10 points apiece for Los Angeles, which committed 17 turnovers leading to 30 Oklahoma City points.
The score was tied at 63 early in the third quarter before Hartenstein and Holmgren slammed home consecutive dunks to start a 15-2 spurt.
Gilgeous-Alexander and Holmgren finished the burst with baskets, helping Oklahoma City end the stretch with 11 straight points to take a 78-65 lead with 5:37 left in the quarter.
“Obviously, the third quarter, let’s start with that, we didn’t have the energy or the effort and they put a 30-point quarter on us,” James said. “That took care of the game right there, to be honest with you.”
The Lakers later scored seven straight points — six by Smart — to move within 84-79 with one minute left in the period. However, Joe drilled two 3-pointers in the final 45.2 seconds as the Thunder took a 90-79 advantage into the final stanza.
The margin was 11 before Mitchell scored nine points during a 14-7 run that lifted the Thunder’s lead to 112-94 with 6:12 remaining. Alex Caruso completed that surge with a thunderous dunk.
“He’s a gamer,” Gilgeous-Alexander said of Mitchell. “Never shaken by the moment. He’s always ready for his opportunity and takes full advantage of it. It might be a shock to the world, but it’s no shock to us. We knew who Ajay Mitchell was the day he stepped into our building and he’s just showing it to the world.”
Wallace drained a 3-pointer to push Oklahoma City’s lead to 120-97 with 4:01 left, and Oklahoma City led by as many as 27 while finishing off a severe second-half beatdown.
Hachimura was 4-for-4 from 3-point range during a 16-point first half that helped the Lakers lead 59-57 at the break. Gilgeous-Alexander had 14 in the half despite 4-of-14 shooting.
“The MVP (Gilgeous-Alexander) is 7 of 20 tonight and they’ve kicked our ass three straight games,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “They are an incredible basketball team.”
–Field Level Media
