The Thunder fought tooth and nail to give the top team in the West a run for its money. In a game that saw 13 ties and 19 lead changes, the Thunder fell just short at the end of regulation despite overcoming as much as a 15-point deficit in the third quarter.
Game Flow For the second time in four days, the Thunder took on the number one team in the West. After a close drop in Staples Center on Tuesday, the Thunder again found itself in a late game battle that was ultimately decided in the final minutes.
The Thunder held tight to its game plan in the first half. Limiting Laker opportunities in transition and reducing the fast break points that played a significant role in the Thunder’s demise only four days prior. At the end of the first half, the Lakers only had three fast-break points and the Thunder cradled a one-point advantage going into the locker room up 67-66.
“I thought we played a really, really good first half,” said Thunder Head Coach Billy Donovan. “I think both teams had a hard time stopping each other.”
Rookie, Darius Bazley went a perfect 4-4 from the field in the first half to give him nine points in his eight minutes of play in the first two quarters.
Out of the half, the Lakers rattled of 28 points in the first five minutes to start the 3rd quarter. This aided the Lake Show to their largest lead of 15 points with 6:59 remaining in the quarter. Despite the deficit, the Thunder resiliently fought its way back going 5-10 from behind the line coupled with a powerful third quarter effort by Steven Adams who racked up 13 points in the third frame alone.
“Basketball games are long games,” said Danilo Gallinari. “We can go up by 15, down by 15 and just come back. That’s what we did. Unfortunately, it happens too often with us in the third quarter. We’re not playing very well in the third quarter, but it was a good effort to make it a tight game.”
In the final chapter, the Thunder never trailed by more than five points. Knocking down shots, making free-throws and forcing the issue on defense to slow down the Lakers offense that ultimately scored 40 points in the fourth quarter alone.
The game was conclusively settled on the Los Angeles free throw line in the final ten seconds of regulation by Anthony Davis who finished as leading scorer for the night with 33 points, 11 rebounds and went a perfect 11-11 from the charity stripe and 4-4 in the final 10 seconds.
“We were moving the ball, sharing the ball, making the right plays, hitting open shots, finding the right man,” said Terrance Ferguson, recounting the Thunder’s offensive effort. “We were playing good basketball... It just wasn’t enough.”
Decisive Moments
With the Thunder down three points with 17 seconds, Chris Paul caught the inbounds pass and drove for a layup to bring the margin to one point with 8.1 seconds remaining. The Thunder was forced to foul on the Lakers inbounds sending Anthony Davis to the line in the bonus. Davis sank them both and Thunder Head Coach Billy Donovan immediately used his final timeout to advance the ball and draw up a play to tie the ball game.
Down three points again, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander caught the inbounds and after searching for a 3-point option, drove in for a layup to bring it within one point with 4.2 seconds left. Forced to foul again, the Thunder sent Davis back to the line where he cashed in on both free shots to send the game back to a 3-point difference. Without a timeout remaining, the Thunder took the ball out of bounds with 3.8 seconds remaining on the clock to try to send the game into overtime. A bullet pass off the baseline over half court intended for Steven Adams was intercepted by Lebron James who dribbled out the remaining seconds and put the game in the freezer.
“We tried to execute. They took away one of those last sets that we run, but that’s what good teams do,” said Paul. “They don’t let you do what you want to do. We keep talking about it, for us we are going to learn how to get better at those situations, but like we said it would be nice to learn and win at the same time. That is what we got to figure out.”
Play of the Game Momentum mounted for the Thunder in the final minute of the first half when a strong defensive effort by Hamidou Diallo on Lebron James forced a missed shot from the King. Bolting out in transition, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hit a savvy in-and-out cross over on Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on the right side of the floor to attack middle. Slicing through the lane, SGA gathered and reached with his right hand to finish away from his body on the right side of the rim. Chesapeake Energy Arena shook with roaring approval from the crowd.
Stat of the Night13 After holding the Lakers to only three fast break points in the first half, the Thunder allowed 13 in the third quarter alone. The Lakers controlled the tempo in the third frame forcing the Thunder to dig its way out of a hole that ultimately took a toll on the flow of the game.
“We needed to have a little bit more urgency getting back,” said Donovan. “It probably speaks to their team’s speed and their ability to advance the ball the way they did and when you’re advancing the ball like that it makes it very, very difficult to get caught up to the ball and the ball scores and if the ball is ahead of the defense it’s hard.”
Quotes of the Night
“The thing to say is we are fighting, but it’s our job, we are supposed to. We have to figure it out. We got to find a way to win these games.” –Chris Paul
“It was a tough one. We’ve had a lot of those this year but it’s something we’ll all learn from and we’ll get better from.” –Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Looking Ahead
The Thunder will take to the West Coast again, this time for a tilt against the Warriors in the Chase Center for the first time. From there, the team will head north to take on the Trailblazers on Wednesday to wrap up its second Pacific road trip of the season before Thanksgiving.