Chet Holmgren and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander each scored 22 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Los Angeles Lakers 125-107 on Thursday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference semi-final series.
Ajay Mitchell had 20 points and Jaren McCain added 18 for the defending champions, who improved to 6-0 in the playoffs. The Lakers will host Game 3 on Saturday.
The Lakers again were without scoring champion Luka Doncic, who is out indefinitely with a strained left hamstring. They also were missing forward Jarred Vanderbilt, the reserve forward who dislocated the pinkie finger on his right hand during the second quarter of Game 1.
The Lakers also had three players finish with five fouls, limiting their ability to be aggressive late in the game.
LeBron James was unable to prevent the Lakers falling 2-0 down to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Thunder
Lakers guard Austin Reaves, who struggled with his shot in Game 1, scored 31 points on 10-for-16 shooting in Game 2. LeBron James, coming off a 27-point effort in Game 1, followed that up with 23.
With the Lakers up 63-61 early in the third quarter, Gilgeous-Alexander got tied up with Reaves and was called for his fourth foul. Upon review, it was upgraded to a flagrant 1 for Gilgeous-Alexander’s follow through. Oklahoma City’s Alex Caruso was called for a technical foul as the situation was being sorted out.
Gilgeous-Alexander left the game with the Lakers up 65-61, but the Thunder rallied and took control without him. On a fast break, Holmgren found a trailing Jaylin Williams, who hit a three-pointer and was fouled. His free throw put the Thunder up 85-74.
The Thunder outscored the Lakers 32-15 while Gilgeous-Alexander was out in the third quarter to take a 93-80 lead into the fourth. The Lakers cut Oklahoma City’s lead to five in the fourth quarter before the Thunder pulled away again.
Lakers coach Redick criticises referees
Lakers coach JJ Redick criticised the way James is officiated and Reaves complained about treatment from the referees after their defeat.
A number of Lakers players gathered around the referees at midcourt after the game and Reaves voiced his frustration to crew chief John Goble. He felt that while players were jockeying for position during a jump ball during the game, Goble crossed the line.
“At the end of the day, we’re grown men and I just didn’t feel like he needed to yell in my face like that,” Reaves said. “I told him that. I wasn’t disrespectful. I told him if I did that to him first, I would’ve gotten a tech. I feel like the only reason I didn’t get a tech was because he knew he was in the wrong. I felt disrespected.”
Lakers head coach JJ Redick was critical of the referees after Game 2
Reaves, Marcus Smart and Jaxson Hayes all finished with five fouls. The Thunder took 26 free throws to 21 for the Lakers.
Redick doesn’t think a team with the No 1 seed and the reigning MVP in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander needs extra help from the officials.
“They’re hard enough to play,” Redick said. “They’re hard to play, and you’ve got to be able to just call them. They foul. They do foul.”
James, still effective at attacking the rim at age 41, has attempted just five throws in two games in the series.
“LeBron has the worst whistle of any star player I’ve ever seen. The smaller guys, because they can be theatrical, they typically draw more fouls, and the bigger players that are built like LeBron, it’s hard for them,” Redick said. “They get clobbered, and he got clobbered again tonight a bunch.”
On several occasions, Lakers players were incredulous after calls – or no-calls – from the crew. While the Lakers talked to the officials during and after the game, the Thunder players stayed calm. Redick believes that might have helped them.
“I think some of the reason that they’re officiated the way they are is because they don’t show emotion,” Redick said. “And that’s a credit to them. I mean, they really take the emotion out of the game. They’re super tight-knit. They don’t complain to the officials, and maybe they’re the beneficiaries of that, I don’t know.”
Pistons continue winning streak to take 2-0 lead
Cade Cunningham had 25 points and 10 assists and Tobias Harris scored 21 points as the Detroit Pistons beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 107-97 on Thursday night to take a 2-0 lead in their second-round series.
Game 3 is on Saturday in Cleveland, where the Cavs were 4-0 in the first round against Toronto.
The top-seeded Pistons have won five straight games since Orlando put them on the brink of elimination in the first round.
Cade Cunningham led the Detroit Pistons to another victory
Donovan Mitchell scored 31 points and Jarrett Allen had 22 points and seven rebounds, bouncing back from a poor performance in Game 1 for the fourth-seeded Cavs.
James Harden, though, missed 10 of 13 shots and was limited to 10 points. Harden had four turnovers, including one with 33 seconds left when the Cavs trailed by just six.
Cleveland’s Max Strus scored just three points after he had 19 in the series opener. The Cavaliers went 0 for 11 from 3-point range in the fourth quarter, with Strus having four of the misses.
Detroit’s Duncan Robinson had 17 points, making 5-9 three-pointers, and Daniss Jenkins came off the bench to score 14 points, his third straight game in double figures.
Cleveland made the first shot and didn’t lead again until Evan Mobley’s dunk put the visitors ahead 81-79 early in the fourth quarter.
The Pistons led by 11 points in the first quarter and 14 in the second quarter, but they didn’t pull away until the final minutes.
The Cavs scored the first six points of the final quarter and Detroit responded with plays at both ends of the court.
Robinson had a tiebreaking three-pointer with 9:40 left and Cunningham made a three-pointer to put the Pistons ahead by nine points with 2:12 to go, sealing the victory.
The Pistons also won Game 1 by 10 points with both Cunningham and Mitchell scoring 23 points.
Cavs reserve guard Sam Merrill missed Game 2 with a hamstring injury after he was hurt in in the series opener. He averaged 12.8 points during the regular season and scored in double digits twice in the seven-game, first-round series against the Raptors.
