Lakers player grades: L.A.'s season ends after being swept by Thunder

After the Los Angeles Lakers lost Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals 131-108 to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday, the question was not whether they would lose the series but when. The hope was that they would be able to stave off elimination for at least a couple of days by winning Game 4 on Monday at home, although it was realistically a pretty faint hope. In each of the first three games, the Lakers were able to stay within striking distance until the third quarter, when the Thunder hit the turbo button.

On Monday, Oklahoma City didn't wait until the third quarter to take control of this game. It went on a 17-0 run in the first 6:22 of the second quarter, and it didn't allow the Lakers to score their first basket of the period until the 5:15 mark. Down by 12 at that point, the pressure hung heavily over the Purple and Gold.

This time, the Lakers actually fought back in the third quarter. After trailing 49-45 at halftime and 66-54 with 7:35 left in the third quarter, they went on a 30-14 run during the remainder of the period and took an 84-80 lead into the fourth quarter. The final minutes saw both teams trading shot after shot and big play after big play, and even though the Lakers fell behind again midway through the final frame, they kept fighting.

In the end, however, Oklahoma City just had a little more on both ends of the floor. It came away with a 115-110 victory, and just like that, the Lakers got swept out of the playoffs. Granted, Luka Doncic hasn't played since he suffered a hamstring strain on April 2.