The logic in some corners of the Lakers locker room a season ago was that the best path to the NBA Finals would not be through Denver, but instead through Oklahoma City — the team tied with the Nuggets for the best record of the West.
Denver was too big, too physical and, the logic went, had dominated the Lakers. And the Thunder didn’t have that.
The Lakers had won three straight against Oklahoma City, capturing their youth, speed and athleticism with wisdom and strength. It gave them an edge and, internally, the belief that if they met, they would be the stronger team.
A lot can change in a season.
On Friday, the Lakers hosted the Thunder in the final game of their NBA Cup pool play and felt the newfound power of Oklahoma City, a crushing 99-93 defeat that left the Lakers clobbered and almost certainly out of the next phase of the tournament arrived.
The scenarios for the cup game and the final tiebreak will be completed next week, but with two defeats and a negative points difference, the chances are slim.
The Lakers found out Friday that when you absorb that much physicality, there’s a mental price to pay.
Max Christie fouled Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on a drive to the basket and grabbed him as if the Lakers had a mistake to forgive in the final 24 seconds. They didn’t, and Gilgeous-Alexander sank a pair of free throws to give Oklahoma City the lead
After a timeout, the Lakers couldn’t get the ball in bounds, with Austin Reaves’ pass intercepted by Jaylen Williams, leading to a dunk.
It was the 17th time the Lakers had lost the game, leading to 20 Thunder points – the mental errors were the result of fatigue and the Thunder’s suffocating defense. Gilgeous-Alexander had game highs of 36 points and nine assists.
Reaves, who played every game a season ago and hasn’t missed a single one this year, pulled out of Friday’s game in the first half after a foul while driving to the basket led to a terrifying fall.
As Reaves jumped from the baseline and tried to lay the ball in, he got sandwiched between Isaiah Hartenstein and Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and landed flat on his back. He writhed in pain for most of a timeout before staying in the game to make a pair of free throws. A few minutes later, he pointed to the Lakers’ bench and headed straight to the locker room.
He returned midway through the third quarter, but was clearly limited.
LeBron James made a jump shot to prevent a bad pass from turning into a turnover and tipped it to Dalton Knecht for a three, but was squashed on the play during a collision and was slow to get up.
Knecht led the Lakers with 20 points and D’Angelo Russell had 17, but the Lakers’ stars James and Anthony Davis combined for just 27 points.
The Lakers hit the road again on Sunday for a four-game road trip in Utah.
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
