Los Angeles Lakers forward Jake LaRavia has been a non-factor during the playoffs, and Lakers head coach JJ Redick decided to completely bench LaRavia in Game 3 of the second round against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
LaRavia played precisely zero minutes, but Redick's decision to DNP the mainstay wing didn't exactly lead to stellar bench production for the Lakers. In fact, LA's bench produced almost nothing outside of Luke Kennard's 18 points. Adou Thiero utilized his freakish athleticism to snag eight rebounds in 13 minutes (a positive!), but what the Lakers really need is bench scoring, and Thiero only provided four points.
Thunder bench is dominating Lakers bench in second round series
Once again, OKC's bench outscored the Lakers' bench, this time by a margin of 44-31. The Thunder bench has now excelled in three straight games compared to a Lakers reserve corps that can't muster much at all.
In Games 1 and 2, it was Jared McCain who powered OKC's bench. In Game 3, McCain was quieter (three points), but Cason Wallace (16 points) and Isaiah Joe (12 points) picked up the torch.
The Thunder continue to prove that they can use different scorers beyond Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to destroy the Lakers. Case in point: Ajay Mitchell led all OKC scorers in Game 3 with 24 points on 10-of-17 from the field. Mitchell also added 10 assists in a masterful performance that deflated Crypto.com Arena and pretty much hammered the nail into the coffin of this series for LA.
JJ Redick is pushing any button he can right now against the Thunder (none of them are working)
You can't fault Redick for benching LaRavia. Jake is averaging just 3.3 points per game in 14.3 minutes per game these playoffs; he's been the definition of a non-factor offensively. And the Lakers are starved for scoring right now.
Game 3's leading scorer for LA was Rui Hachimura with 21 points. Austin Reaves and LeBron James were held to a combined 36 points, a far cry from the high-volume scoring that the Lakers need from Bron and AR to have a chance in this series.
Redick is just pushing any button he can to see if someone can provide a spark at this point. But he's out of options. The Lakers were never going to be able to generate enough offense against this incredible OKC defense with Luka Dončić sidelined.
Now, as Game 4 approaches, Redick's message to his guys will be to fire away from 3 and fight for pride alone. The Lakers' 2025-26 journey is nearly at its end. It's been an interesting ride, but ultimately, injuries doomed a roster that was never deep enough to begin with. OKC is too much of a juggernaut, and a deep one at that.
Add us as a preferred source on Google