The Lakers’ four-game losing streak is over. Led by a huge scoring night from LeBron James and a new starting lineup that flipped the identity of that first five towards size and defensive versatility, the Lakers took down the Thunder 129-120 and closed out their road trip with a much-needed victory.
Heading into this contest Anthony Davis called this game a “must win”, and the entire team — from the coaches to the players — seemed to take that idea to heart. Head Coach Darvin Ham adjusted his starting lineup, removing D’Angelo Russell in favor of Jarred Vanderbilt in the type of change that made the first group less dynamic offensively, but bigger and more athletic with the type of defensive versatility to change up their coverages.
Early on, however, the lineup change did not exactly play to type or provide what would have been expected. The Lakers defense came out switching screen actions in an attempt to stifle the Thunder at the point of attack, but OKC managed these coverages well to start out, finding an early rhythm with their jump shooting and putting the Lakers into scramble situations by driving and kicking out to open shooters. The result was OKC scoring 39 first quarter points, while connecting on six of their 13 attempts from deep.
Meanwhile, even though the Lakers removed some offensive firepower from their starting group, the simplified focus of running every play through LeBron and/or Anthony Davis allowed the Lakers to find their own rhythm offensively and match the Thunder bucket for bucket. And while some of this success also came from the reserves, with AD and LeBron providing the stability, the Lakers nearly matched OKC with 37 first quarter points of their own and looking quite comfortable in how they would attack OKC’s defense.
No one seemed as comfortable as LeBron, though, as he found the creases in OKC’s defense and took advantage of their coverages to get to his spots and score well all night. LeBron poured in 40 points on the evening, connecting on 13 of his 20 attempts from the field, including all five of his three-point attempts. When the defense sagged off him or protected the paint in transition, he stepped into open threes and knocked them down.
And when OKC tried to crowd him or deny him the ball, he cut to the rim or dove into the post and then used his superior strength to get to his spot and either finish right away or pump fake defenders into the air where he could either finish after they flew by or draw fouls that sent him to the foul line (where he hit 9-9 on the night). Just masterful performance from James who was everything his team needed offensively and more, not just as a scorer but in dishing out seven assists to go with seven rebounds as well.
Davis, however, was not going to let LeBron go at it alone. Like his superstar teammate, AD scored well and efficiently, tallying 26 points on 11-21 shooting, scoring inside and out against a Thunder defense that played zones and sent double teams his way to try to disrupt his flow.
Davis, however, was undeterred, absorbing those doubles or leveraging the extra attention he drew in zones to pick out teammates for makable shots all night. AD dished out seven assists on the evening, a number that reflects not just his teammates paying off those passes, but Davis’ timing and understanding of where the openings and gaps were to highlight his teammates in the first place.
To go along with his scoring and assists, AD was again great on the boards and defensively, grabbing 11 rebounds while blocking two shots and snaring a steal, while proving disruptive on countless other possessions that only show up in the box score as OKC misses.
With the lineup change skewing towards defense with the starters, that meant much more offensive firepower coming off the bench for the Lakers and that group did well by coming into the game ready to make an impact on that end of the floor. the trio of Rui Hachimura (21 points), Austin Reaves (11 points), and Russell (15 points) combined for 47 points, connecting on 17 of their 31 attempts from the field.
Rui was especially potent, keeping it simple by taking the open shot when it presented itself, attacking closeouts when the initial look was not there, and cutting into the gaps of the defense from the weak side when the defense paid too much attention to the ball handler on the other side of the floor. Rui was aggressive but never forced the action, and played with smarts and decisiveness to really make an impact on that end of the floor.
As the game wore on then, the Lakers snatched control and, at one point, built up a 26-point lead through a combination of their offense really starting to click and their new rotation fielding more balanced defensive groups. That said, just as they did to start the game, OKC would find their offensive rhythm again and make a game of it.
Making a strong push at the end of the 3rd and to start the 4th quarter, OKC chipped away at the Lakers lead and put the game back into question. Led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 34 points and an additional 28 from Jaylen Williams, the Thunder rode the energy of the crowd and took advantage of some missed Lakers shots to get the game back to single digits and looking ready to test the Lakers’ resolve and ability to hold the full lead.
But, LeBron and the Lakers would do just that. Down the stretch, Bron scored 15 of the team’s final 17 points, nailing threes and bullying his way to the basket to ensure his team matched whatever buckets the Thunder were able to score on the other end. And then defensively, Davis and the rest of the team got just enough stops to fend off OKC’s final push and ensure the game would end with them heading back to Los Angeles with the win.
The Lakers will now try to carry this momentum forward into Monday’s Christmas Day matchup with the Celtics.
