LOS ANGELES — Ajay Mitchell had career playoff highs of 24 points and 10 assists, and the Oklahoma City Thunder extended their unbeaten playoff run to the brink of another Western Conference finals with a 131-108 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3 of the second round Saturday night.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 23 points and nine assists for the Thunder, who coolly improved to 7-0 — both in these playoffs, and in their seven games this season against LeBron James and the Lakers. Oklahoma City is the NBA’s sixth defending champion to start 7-0 in the following postseason after three wins over short-handed Los Angeles by a combined 59 points.
Game 3 was remarkably similar to Game 2 in many respects: The Lakers again had to fight desperately just to keep up with the champs into the third quarter, only for the Thunder to run away with their usual merciless efficiency when L.A. finally faltered. Chet Holmgren had 18 points and nine rebounds for Oklahoma City, which outscored the Lakers 33-20 in the third quarter and wasn’t threatened down the stretch.
Game 4 is Monday night in Los Angeles.
James had 19 points, eight assists and six rebounds, while Austin Reaves had 17 points and nine assists. But both stars struggled from the field, shooting a 12-for-32. Rui Hachimura scored a team-high 21 points, but it wasn’t enough to keep L.A. in contention with the champs.
Luke Kennard added 18 points for the Lakers, who have lost five of their past six games since midway through the first round against Houston.
NBA scoring champion Luka Doncic missed his 14th consecutive game for the Lakers since straining his hamstring April 2 in Oklahoma City. He is not thought to be close to returning from an injury that often requires two months of recovery.
Gilgeous-Alexander had his highest-scoring game of the series despite missing nine of his first 11 shots amid another concerted defensive effort by the Lakers on the reigning NBA MVP.
Mitchell continued his playoff emergence for Oklahoma City, with the Belgian guard scoring at least 14 points in his sixth consecutive game while going 10-for-17.
Except for Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder all began Game 3 in another shooting groove. Los Angeles still surged to a small halftime lead thanks to 16 points from Hachimura.
Oklahoma City erased that lead with a methodical surge out of halftime, going up by 13 in the third quarter.
Third-leading scorer Jalen Williams missed his fifth straight game for the Thunder because of a strained hamstring.
