LAKERS -at- THUNDER - 4-8-25 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Luka Ejected... Big game for the Lakers, and they had to close without Luka.

With the Lakers up 108-107 with 7:40 left in the game, Luka got tossed with his second tech as he was talking trash to a fan and a ref thought it was to him. That changed everything down the stretch for the Lakers as they were outscored 29-12 from that point.

Unfortunate insertion of themselves by the refs into a competitive game.

Early on, both teams were on fire in the first quarter as they tied 43-43.

The Lakers fell behind getting outscored 20-0 in points off turnovers in the first half. In the third quarter, they didn’t give up any points off turnovers and took a 98-97 lead heading into the fourth. Great 26-17 third by the Lakers on the road.

Luka rested to start the fourth and had entered a minute before he got tossed. He had just hit a jumper and you felt like he was about to impose himself and work on closing the game. Instead he was in the locker room. And less than a minute later, LeBron was due for his rest.

The Lakers were down 1 when LeBron sat and down 8 and without momentum when he returned. The Thunder rolled from there, and the Lakers fell 136-120.

They’ll take a split on the road, for sure, but bad taste left in the mouths of fans with how those game turned on the ejection.


LeBron -- -- He had the team-low -23 tonight. The turnovers in this game were painful. There was a stretch early in the second quarter where over the span of a few minutes, he had 4 turnovers. Luka mixed in 2 turnovers during this stretch, as well. Fumbling some dribbles away, throwing an advance pass of target. Just sloppy ball. That killed the Lakers as they gave up 80 points in the first half. Late in the game, he fumbled another dribble right out of bounds. On the plus side the three ball was looking good early on. We saw some rare floater action from Bron as he got into the lane off the two-man game. If he sees this team again, I wonder if we see more of that. He got swatted badly by Hartenstein on one drive late. Good job getting to the line and converting. The Stats: He scored 28 points on 8-19 shooting (3-6 from three, 9-10 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 6 turnovers and 1 foul in 35 minutes. He was a -23.

Luka -- -- He had just returned to the game and hit a jumper. It felt like he was getting ready for that final push, and we were about to see a real battle. After that shot he talked some trash to the first row and got ejected with his second tech. That sucked the soul right out of this game. So weak. I thought we were in for a great close. The key part of this was he was going to take over while Bron sat and instead we were on our heels at the exact wrong time. Crazy. Lesson here I guess is to try to reel in the comments that will get you real techs while on the road. The Lakers need a couple more wins here. Let’s get the next one. The Stats: He scored 23 points on 7-15 shooting (3-7 from three, 6-7 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 6 assists, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 31 minutes. He was a +6.

Reaves -- -- He had the unfortunate task of trying to run the show when Luka got ejected and Bron had to go to the bench to rest in that fourth quarter. The Lakers lost the rope there. Great first 12 minutes or so of this game. He had 18 points on 4-5 shooting from three. He was getting after it, including crossing over SGA badly on one play for an And-1 layup. Good work getting to the line late. Defensively, that off-arm by SGA is deadly and creates a lot of space before shots. Reaves couldn’t stay tight because of that. He also had a couple fumbles of the ball in that fourth that played into the Thunder momentum. The Stats: He scored 24 points on 6-12 shooting (4-7 from three, 8-12 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 5 assists, 4 turnovers and 4 fouls in 38 minutes. He was a -19.

Hayes -- -- Early in this game, he missed a couple of dunk attempts. In the second half, he had a couple slams. One off a Gabe drive and dish and another putback jam when Gabe missed a three. Nice work. Defensively, a couple moments blocking shots, one on a nice smothering work on a drive. The Lakers had some tough lineups out there without floor spacing in this game. One was with a Hayes/Vando/Goodwin trio. Not ideal. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-4 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 6 boards (2 offensive), 2 assists, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 27 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: blocked a three. Kick to wing for a three on short roll. Cant finish dunk . Cant finish lob. Swatted drive. // Dunk left alone and Lja hit him with no looker unde rhoop. Fouled rolling with Luka on dunk attempt for FTs. HitVando coming rom corner for layup. Lam on Gabe drive and dish. Hammer down O board one handed.

Finney-Smith -- -- Good shooting start to this game, then he cooled off. He hit a three in transition on a Bron kickout. He was wide open on a short-roll where Hayes kicked it to him on a good read. Luka found him wide open on a cross-court feed for another three. Then he sank a wide open three on a AR kick to the corner on a short roll. They’re doing a good job finding him from where they were when he first joined the team. Defensively, we weren’t able to stay as attached to OKC players as needed in this game. It also felt like we missed some strength on the glass at times without Rui. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 4-8 shooting from three to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 1 block and 1 foul in 32 minutes. He was a -32.

Vincent -- -- He missed a couple corner threes before knocking down an above the break three when his man was caught of a screen and he pulled up. That forced a timeout. He also had a nice weak to strong cut and took a Luka feed under the hoop for a layup over his head. A couple assists in this one. A nice extra pass swing to a teammate for an open three and an attack from the corner to draw the D and find Hayes under the rim for a slam. The 1-6 from three had one blocked out of bounds and another that Hayes slammed back in, so that made it seem a little less poor a night. Best play defensively was to steal and inbounds pass with some pressure in the corner. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-7 shooting (1-6 from three) to go with 2 assists, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 25 minutes. He was a -10.

Vanderbilt -- -- Loved the game by Vando, although he also got T’d up right after Luka after blocking AC. Then he picked up a flagrant later on a perimeter take foul. He plays on emotion and that emotion and effort was firing up the team in that second half. There was a stretch where he seemed to be everywhere. He was battling on the glass on both ends. He scored on a cut from the corner when Hayes found him. He tipped in another missed jumper. He kept another board alive then hit Bron cutting for FTs. One of those overwhelming energy games from Vando that really stands out. The 8 offensive boards were huge. The +/- was largely due to being in for that Thunder run after Luka got tossed. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-5 shooting (2-4 from the line) to go with 12 boards (8 offensive), 1 assist, 2 blocks, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 20 minutes. He was a -17.

Knecht -- -- He sank a corner three on a Bron kickout in the first half. He also got rejected badly trying flush over a big while showing the ball. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-4 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 3 boards and no fouls in 14 minutes. He was a -1.

Goodwin -- -- Good start in this game, hitting a wing three off a swing pass and then swishing another three from the top of the arc. Both of those originated with Luka drives and resulted in wide open shots. Good work on the boards, as well. He had a great defensive board against Hartenstein that showed his abilities to battle there on one defensive stand. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-5 shooting (2-4 from three) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 13 minutes. He was a -6.

Milton -- -- In for a minute. Nothing to report. The Stats: He had 1 board in 2 minutes. He was a +1.

Koloko -- -- He drew some FTs off ball in garbage time. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 2-2 shooting from the line to go with 1 board in 2 minutes. He was a +1.

Jemison -- -- He had a putback layup in the final seconds for his bucket. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-1 shooting to go with 1 offensive board in 2 minutes. He was a +1.

Redick -- -- The game against the Pelicans, JJ said: “We got to be able to start games with a little more defensive disposition.” Yeah, that was on display today. The first quarter there was just far too much room for shooters to get comfortable. The second quarter was more bad offense, putting the Lakers in a bad situation on D… On the Luka situation: "It was a great game that, unfortunately, didn't get to sort of finish out the way that I think every basketball fan would want because of some decision-making on some individuals' parts."... I know I was ready to get the popcorn out for the stretch run in this one. A complete bust…

[eddiejonze]

First!
In the post game show, big shot Bob straight up said the NBA has a double standard and allows guys like Draymond to scream at refs not just fans but refs and the opposing team and never gets T’d up and thrown out like Luca did tonight. It’s a double standard and it’s disgusting.
NBA = WWE.
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Creatures crawl in search of blood, To terrorize y'alls neighborhood.

[danzag]

It was a great game until that ref decided he was the protagonist
Pathetic T while guys like Draymond can bark all game long

OKC looks very, very beatable. We got their number.

[Nobody]

Pathetic refs. 2-0 in my book. The Thunder should go (bleep) themselves.

[ChefLinda]

Bleep the refs.
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Don't blame me. I voted for Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton.

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Missed the game, thinking this was a penciled in loss. Wrong. If the Lakers had a 1 point lead in the 4th, after drubbing OKC in their own stadium just a couple days ago?? Wow. If I'm OKC I'd be worried about the Lakers slipping to that 4 spot. And their chances of advancing past the WCF.

Seeing how one ref determined the outcome and why - ridiculous.

[Dr. Laker]

Thanks, DB.
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On Lakersground, a concern troll is someone who is a fan of another team, but pretends to be a Lakers fan with "concerns".

[jodeke]

I may be in the minority, I liked, past tense, Tony Brothers. He straight lied about Vando verably taunting player. I didn't see his lips move. I lost a lot of respect for Brothers.

[Lakers 4 eva]

[jodeke]

[DancingBarry]

Nice that they rescinded the Luka tech.