There simply is no stopping the Oklahoma City Thunder. Despite being on the second night of a back-to-back, they have thoroughly dismantled the 8-3 Los Angeles Lakers led by Luka Doncic. They wasted no time putting the pressure on the defensive end, resulting in them laying the smackdown on the Purple and Gold every which way. By the time halftime came around, OKC was up by 32 on a Lakers team that supposedly has the rest advantage.
This Thunder team is simply unforgiving and leaves their opponents with no margin for error. The Lakers, however, played into their trap over and over again, and this careless basketball snowballed into what has become a night to forget. It's impossible to win against the Thunder when you turn the ball over 20 times.
With this game being on national television, this defeat for the Lakers becomes that much more embarrassing. Fans were ruthless towards them on X, with Doncic and the rest of the team getting trolled for their pitiful performance against the reigning champion.
“Watching these sorry a** Lakers getting 30 balled right now. Haha,” @WestSideVegasLV wrote.
“Why do lakers fans even talk about the playoffs like we ain't see the wolves give yall the work last year just for okc to toy with them 😭,” @hatefulokcfan1 added.
“I just woke up from my nap to see that we're spanking the Lakers LMAO,” @shawngotswole furthered.
“Ik D hate to see my best coming when the Lakers losing 😂😂😂😂,” @Loveisthee_KEY piled on.
Lakers need LeBron James to reach full potential
In games like the one the Lakers had to suffer through on Wednesday night is when they miss LeBron James so much. James provides so much value as a rim-attacking playmaker who can create his own shots from the perimeter as well, and his contributions on the boards and on the glass cannot be understated.
It's not quite clear when James will be returning from his nerve injury. But the Lakers will only be able to win these big games with his two-way contributions. Doncic and Austin Reaves are so reliant on perimeter creation that the dimension James would provide the team should provide them with some relief.
