OKLAHOMA CITY — The postseason road the Lakers want to take probably will roll through Oklahoma City at some point, the unquestioned best team in the Western Conference having played its way to the top with a level of all-around excellence rarely seen.
And the Lakers, heading into the final week of the regular season, have either the good fortune or the curse of having to test themselves against the team with the NBA’s best record.
At the worst, the games against the Thunder could expose the Lakers’ weaknesses. Oklahoma City is younger and hungrier with more size at the rim, capitalizing on advantages the Lakers will struggle to overcome.
But when the Lakers are at their best — and whoa, they were certainly at their best Sunday — they can prove to everyone, especially themselves, that their combination of otherworldly individual offensive talent and versatile, scrambling defense can hold down even the most talented of teams.
From early red-hot shooting to full-game focus, the Lakers stamped themselves as full-fledged contenders in the West by dominating the Thunder 126-99 in an all-caps, bold-lettered statement win.
“We know it’s the final stretch into the full season, so we’re just trying to rack up great habits,” LeBron James said.
That, plus great players, is a proven combination.
Luka Doncic, who knocked the Thunder out of the postseason last season on the way to the NBA Finals, went deep into his bag of skills, spinning around defenders, firing passes over his head and stepping back and splashing over the Thunder’s league-best defense.
He scored 30 points and had six assists, but more importantly, he helped puncture Oklahoma City’s smothering perimeter defense.
“Luka was spectacular,” James said.
Austin Reaves, who has cemented himself as one of the Lakers’ most important players alongside Doncic and LeBron James, opened another game scorching from three-point range while doing admirable work on MVP front-runner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Reaves scored 20 and Gilgeous-Alexander had 26 points, but rarely were any of his buckets easy.
And James, who has regained some of his defensive form coming off a groin injury, scored 19 points but more importantly helped organize the Lakers against the Thunder’s stellar supporting cast, including 7-foot-1 Chet Holmgren, who scored only 10 points.
The Lakers (48-30) answered the biggest questions in negating one of the Thunder’s biggest strengths. The Lakers fought for loose balls, they extended possessions on the offensive glass and they limited their mistakes.
And when the Thunder (64-14) pushed, and they did, Dorian Finney-Smith or Gabe Vincent helped extinguish the spark quickly.
Like they did in a blowout win in Denver earlier this season, the Lakers showed that when they play their best, other teams will need to be at the top of their game to stop them. Against the Thunder, the Lakers took control by scoring 42 points in the first quarter and led by at least 10 points the rest of the way.
“Very committed to what we were trying to do defensively and very committed to where we felt like we could generate good shots offensively against a terrific defense,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “And there wasn’t any letup to that. There weren’t any overreactions.”
Since the Doncic trade, the Lakers have earned wins against the Nuggets, Rockets and Thunder, turning in strong defensive performances in each. And the Lakers shot the ball incredibly well Sunday — they made a season-high 22 three-pointers — as other parts of their game plan also fell into place.
“We know that they’re very good when it comes to one, getting into the paint, attracting a lot,” James said. “They do a great job of getting [to] the free-throw line. They do a great job of getting offensive rebounds at second-chance points and those are some of the controllables that you control.”
The Lakers kept the Thunder off the glass, outrebounding them by nine. The Lakers scored 10 more second-chance points, and when they grabbed control of the game, they didn’t relinquish it. And Oklahoma City only shot 12 free throws, with Gilgeous-Alexander attempting none for the first time since Dec. 18, 2021.
The Lakers now have the opportunity to try and do it again Tuesday, though they’ve been a little cagey about their plans for handling the game considering they’ll play again Wednesday in Doncic’s first game back in Dallas.
“Nothing set in stone,” Redick said for the Lakers’ plans Tuesday. “Again, this is all day to day.”
And Sunday, it was a good one.
