Lakers player grades: L.A. gets rolled by Thunder in Game 1
Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Thunder gradually got away from the Lakers.
Los Angeles Lakers fans were hoping for a big surprise in Game 1 of the Purple and Gold's second-round NBA playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday. But instead, everything went according to plan, at least for the Thunder. In the early minutes, the Lakers were very competitive.
They kept pace with Oklahoma City and trailed by only five at the end of the first quarter. But the defending world champions went up by 10 early in the second quarter, and from that point on, Los Angeles was never able to mount a serious challenge, as it fell in a 108-90 defeat. Los Angeles' defense wasn't terrible in this game.
The Thunder scored a modest number of points, and L. A. was able to hold Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning league MVP, to 18 points while forcing him into seven turnovers by trapping him on the perimeter.
But the Lakers were weak offensively -- they made just 41. 7% of their field-goal attempts and one-third of their 30 3-point tries while attempting an anemic 13 free throws. Perhaps the biggest concern for them coming into this series was turnovers, and they gave up the ball 18 times, which led to 20 Oklahoma City points.
Continue to the original source for the full article.