The Los Angeles Lakers, at long last, have defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder.

In each of the first two meetings between a preseason championship favorite and a preseason favorite to land the no. 1 overall pick, the Thunder improbably erased deficits of 19+ points to upset Los Angeles.

Not so on Friday in OKC.

The Lakers — playing without Anthony Davis (knee soreness) — raced out to a 19-point lead at halftime. And, unlike the previous meetings and the night before against the Memphis Grizzlies — they didn't let their foot off the gas.

Rather, they put together a strong second half and won, 116-95.

 

The Lakers (14-13) shot 47.1% from the field and were mostly responsible with the basketball. They were engaged on defense and whipped the rock around on offense.

“Offensively, I just felt everybody just felt in a good rhythm,” LeBron James said. “We had the ball popping tonight, it was going from side to side.”

Frank Vogel, whose Friday film session focused on ball movement, happily concurred.

“Really proud of our group for just taking the lessons of last night's game, where we failed to make the simple play and see the open man in front of us. We really bought into that morning film session and tried to have that carry over into tonight’s game. We moved the ball beautifully and, as a result, the shot quality was high and we had a great shooting night from the perimeter.”

It's difficult, and perhaps foolish, to draw overarching conclusions from this breezy win, considering the quality of competition and the Lakers' confounding inconsistency this season. Even if AD returns, no one would be surprised if they killed the good vibes with a dud against the Orlando Magic at Staples Center on Sunday.

That said, let's examine three notable differences from this performance from their previous two meetings vs. OKC.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4eyMtHUETPlGtzzbISEXc8?si=Buyhvxb9TM6w94l_OZy6Wg

 

1) LeBron James played

Notably, LeBron was absent from the first two games vs. the Thunder. Of course, the Lakers still should have pulled those wins out, especially after building massive leads. However, it's fair to wonder if they'd be really 1-2 against OKC had James been available in the prior encounters.

Not only did LeBron play — he was brilliant. In 35 minutes, LeBron finished with 33 points, six rebounds, six assists, three steals, and two blocks. He shot 13-of-21 from the field — including multiple impressive rim attacks — and drilled 4-of-6 from deep. His D was dialed-in.

“He was unbelievable tonight,” Vogel said. “I shouldn’t say it surprises me, but it’s just incredible for him to play at such a high level. To perform the way he did tonight — not only with his shot-making, but his playmaking. His will to take a tough loss last night and say, ‘That’s not gonna happen again.’ The two losses we had against OKC where we built big leads and let them get back in it — he wasn’t gonna let that happen again tonight. Just a great performance by Bron.”

The Lakers were not going to drop a third game to the lowly Thunder on LeBron's watch.

“I was excited to play in this game,” James said. “I understood the leads that we build and watching from the sideline and seeing those leads evaporate and them celebrating on our floor last time they played. I couldn’t nothing but sit there and watch … I was looking forward to making an impact in this game. Just trying to control the game how I know I can control the game on both sides of the floor.”

2) The Lakers are good at third quarters now

One of the few promising developments over the past few weeks has been the Lakers' third-quarter turnaround. For a month, the period out of the locker room was one of the Lakers' Achilles heels — including in the first meeting against the Thunder, when they were outscored 41-23.

Over the past few weeks, the Lakers have turned a weakness into a strength.

On Friday, when the Lakers hit halftime with a 64-45 lead at the Paycom Center, it was fair to question whether déjà vu was coming.

Instead, the Lakers continued the onslaught. They came out of the gates running and gunning, ultimately winning the third quarter 29-23 and repeatedly halting any potential pushes from OKC.

Good teams don't just beat bad teams — they work them.

4) Avery Bradley outplayed Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Avery Bradley was … awesome?

Not only did he drop a season-high 22 points on 6-of-8 3-point shooting, but he played fantastic one-on-one defense on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — who was the best player on the court in both previous meetings, scoring a combined 55 points.

On Friday, Bradley pestered SGA. The electric Thunder guard was held to 11 points and four assists on 5-of-12 shooting, and remarkably, you often forgot he was on the court.

LeBron credited AB for being “activated” from the tip knowing he had to guard SGA, and that his aggressiveness on offense helped limit Shai on the other end.

“I feel like he was a focal point for us tonight,” Bradley said. “The last two games he played extremely well. I just wanted to take the challenge and try to make every play hard on him.”

Vogel may get a lot of flak for continually starting Bradley, but the veteran guard validated his coach's faith.

“Anything we get offensively is a bonus, but he’s a guy who’s averaged 18-20 points per game in this league,” Vogel said. “We’re always telling him to be aggressive offensively … After what (Shai) did to us the first two games, Avery Bradley was fantastic on the ball with him … He just had a great two-way performance.”

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4) Austin Reaves Back

Speaking of outsized performances from role players, Austin Reaves had perhaps his best game as a pro. The former Wichita St. and Oklahoma hooper re-entered the rotation in Oklahoma City and re-solidified his standing as a key to the team's success.

In the first two OKC matchups, combined, Reaves had 10 points and a -5 in 40 minutes. On Friday, the undrafted rookie put up 13 points (4-0f-7 FG) and five rebounds in 28 minutes for a +17. His ball movement/feel/positioning was connective tissue, and his defensive effort was above-average — as usual. Plus/minus lord is back.

Reaves was slow to regain his rhythm after sitting out nearly three weeks with a hamstring strain. He had been out of the rotation for the past two games. After Friday's beauty, Frank Vogel acknowledged that he was waiting for Reaves to prove he was ready to return to a prominent role.

5) 3-point shooting

The Lakers' efficacy from downtown is impossible to predict from game to game.

On Friday, they had one of their most accurate performances of the season, especially in the first half. The Lakers nailed seven of their first 10 triples, while the Thunder began 1-of-13. Even after the Lakers cooled off, the Thunder continued to brick wide-open looks — spurning any opportunity of a serious late-game surge.

 

In the first matchup, the Thunder shot 15-of-37 (40.5%) while the Lakers were 11-of-35 (31.4%). In the next meeting, OKC made 15-of-41 (36.6%) compared to 12-of-33 (36.4%) for Los Angeles.

On Friday, the Lakers finished 17-of-37 (45.9%). OKC was 9-of-42 (21.4%). ‘Nuff said.