Behind 24 from Ajay Mitchell, Thunder pull away from Lakers in second half to win 131-108
Oklahoma City now has a commanding 3-0 series lead and has won seven straight in these playoffs (a franchise record).
LOS ANGELES ā There comes a point in almost every series where one coach realizes he's beaten, he's thrown every conventional lineup and attacked every matchup he could, and nothing has worked. So, the coach tries something desperate. Midway through the third quarter of Game 3, with the game and the season slipping away, Lakers coach JJ Redick went small, playing without a center and playing Adou Thiero against a big Thunder team.
It worked for a minute, the Lakers went on a 7-0 run and the home crowd ā desperate for something to cheer for ā got loud. Just as quickly, Ajay Mitchell settled the Thunder down, they made a couple of 3-pointers, and the Thunder's lead was back up to double digits. "Typically, you can poke holes at a team in a playoff series.
There's a good chance they might have, like a temporary solution, or can sort of adjust, maybe a little bit," Lakers coach JJ Redick said. "This [Thunder] team ā in-game because of their personnel ā they just adjust. They need shooting on the floor, great.
They need multiple wing defenders on the floor, great. They need two bigs on the floor, great. It's just, they're a terrific basketball team.