The logic inside some corners of the Lakers locker room last season was that the best path to the NBA Finals wouldn’t run through Denver, but instead through Oklahoma City — the team tied with the Nuggets for the West’s best record.
Denver was too big, too physical and had dominated the Lakers. And the Thunder had not.
The Lakers had won three in a row against the Thunder, staring down their youth, speed and athleticism with wisdom and force. It gave the Lakers an edge and the belief that if they met Oklahoma City in the playoffs, they were the tougher team.
A lot can change in a season.
“They’ve taken a jump but they’re also missing a big piece too,” LeBron James said, citing injured big man Chet Holmgren and guard Alex Caruso. “So, they’ll make another jump. But a really good team. Well coached.”
Friday in the final game of their NBA Cup pool play, the Lakers hosted the Thunder and felt Oklahoma City’s newfound force in a bruising 99-93 loss that left L.A. beaten up and almost certainly out of the tournament’s next stage.
Cup play and final tiebreak scenarios will be completed next week, but with two losses and negative point differential, the Lakers’ chances to advance are slim.
The Lakers found out Friday that when you absorb so much physicality, there’s a mental cost to be paid as well.
Max Christie fouled Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on a drive to the basket in the final 24 seconds, grabbing him as if the Lakers had a foul to give. They did not, and Gilgeous-Alexander sank a pair of free throws to put Oklahoma City ahead.
“I knew the time and score of the game, but I didn’t realize they were in the bonus,” the 21-year-old guard said. “And I should have known because they were in the bonus for the last three or four minutes. So yeah, that’s a mental error on my part, and I take responsibility for that.”
After a timeout, the Lakers couldn’t inbound the ball, Austin Reaves’ pass intercepted by Jaylen Williams, leading to a dunk.
It was the Lakers’ 17th turnover, a total that led to 20 Thunder points — the mental mistakes a result of fatigue and smothering defense. Gilgeous-Alexander had game highs of 36 points and nine assists.
“There were half-dozen to a dozen plays that just shot us in the foot even before the late-game stuff,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “We played well enough and hard enough to win against the best team in the West. So there’s definitely good stuff.”
Most of that came on the defensive end, where the Lakers followed up 48 strong minutes in San Antonio with one of their best defensive games of the year.
“That was as connected as our group has been on that end of the floor since the first game of the season,” Redick said. “Just, you know, a really outstanding job with a lot of the stuff we talked about.”
The game, though, came at a cost.
Reaves, who has yet to miss a game and played every game a season ago, pulled himself out of the game in the first half after a foul while he drove to the basket led to a scary fall.
As Reaves jumped from the baseline and tried to lay the ball in, he got sandwiched in between Oklahoma City’s Isaiah Hartenstein and Gilgeous-Alexander, landing flatly on his back. Reaves writhed in pain for most of a timeout before staying in the game to make a pair of free throws. Minutes later he pointed to the bench and went straight to the locker room.
He returned midway through the third quarter but he was limited.
James leaped to keep a bad pass from being a turnover, tipping it to Dalton Knecht for a three, only to be flattened during a collision and slow to get up.
“It’s no big deal to me, obviously. I like when the game is played that way,” James said. “I wish there were more regular-season games allowed to play that way.”
Knecht led the Lakers with 20 points and D’Angelo Russell had 17, but the Lakers’ stars, James and Anthony Davis, scored just 27 points combined. Davis scored 15 and took only nine shots.
After the game, Redick said he and the coaching staff have to do a better job of getting Davis chances to score despite the Thunder defense focusing on slowing him down.
“The second straight game that a team has done that, and he’s been a willing passer again, seven assists,” Redick said. “He didn’t score the ball like he normally scores the ball, but he had an outstanding game.”
The Lakers (11-8) head back on the road for a four-game trip beginning Sunday in Utah.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.