LeBron James missed 26 games last season due to a high right ankle sprain.
OKLAHOMA CITY — LeBron James sat out the Los Angeles Lakers’ game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night because of a sore right ankle.
They could have used him.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 27 points, and the Thunder rallied from 26 points down to beat the Lakers 123-115 for their first win of the season.
Game Recap: Thunder 123, Lakers 115
James was injured Sunday night in a victory over Memphis and missed the Lakers’ overtime win at San Antonio on Tuesday night.
Russell Westbrook, the former Thunder star, had yet another triple-double in Oklahoma City. He had 20 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists for the 185th triple-double of his career before being ejected in the final seconds. He was cheered loudly during pregame introductions.
Anthony Davis scored 30 points for the Lakers, who fell to 2-3.
“It’s a game that we’re definitely supposed to win,” Davis said. “We’re not supposed to lose at all. But we’ll learn from it and move forward.”
Oklahoma City’s Darius Bazley intercepted the inbounds pass and dunked with 1.5 seconds left. Westbrook took exception to Bazley not running out the clock and was ejected for getting his second technical of the night. The crowd turned on Westbrook in the final seconds.
In a loss to OKC, the Lakers drop the first 26-point lead in franchise history, with defense as the culprit.
“We’re old-school,” Westbrook said. “When (expletive) like that happens, I don’t let it slide. I take it on the chin and move on. In the game of basketball, there’s certain things you don’t do. There’s certain things you don’t do in sports. Game already over and I didn’t like it. Simple as that.”
Gilgeous-Alexander said Bazley didn’t mean any harm.
“I know Baze,” he said. “I know he wasn’t meaning no disrespect by it. And it just happened heat of the moment.”
