There was hope. There was an idealistic belief that despite Games 1 and 2 turning into double-digit losses on the road, the Los Angeles Lakers showed a level of compete and toughness that could help even out this series going back to Hollywood. That did not happen.
The Oklahoma City Thunder cruised to a comfortable 131-108 win over the Lakers in Game 3, taking a suffocating 3-0 series lead. The fat lady is tuning up her vocal chords. Despite encouraging moments in Games 1 and 2, Game 3 largely followed the same script.
If someone tuned in to watch the first half in any of those matchups, they would think the Lakers had a fair chance at winning the game. It was second-half collapse after second-half collapse for JJ Redick's guys. It all largely came in a similar fashion too.
The Lakers got careless. Turnovers were something that desperately needed to be fixed. Of the major adjustments that Los Angeles needed to make, Redick knew that taking care of the basketball was near the top of the priority list.
Nope — 17 turnovers, losing the overall battle yet again, and a series-high 30 points conceded off those giftwrapped opportunities. Just like that, Cancun is calling with the Lakers on the ropes.
Lakers could not fix what they needed to and now it may be too late
No team in NBA history has ever come back from an 0-3 deficit. That is well-known fact. It is tough to buy much stock in this version of the Lakers, sans Luka Doncic, being the first.
On top of controlling the turnovers, Los Angeles needed to find a way to not let Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's supporting cast beat them again. They could not do that.
SGA had another lackluster individual outing, relative to how great his offense typically is. The scoring, which is usually his greatest weapon, was largely inefficient at 23 points on 7-of-20 from the field.
However, Gilgeous-Alexander did manage to dish out nine assists in this one. The rest of the starters around him did their part, all getting up to double-digit scoring in the contest. The Thunder's other guys outplaying the Lakers' is unfortunately a continuing theme in the series too.
The Lakers will hope they can finally get a new script for Game 4 and pick up their first win in this head-to-head. Even then, it may just be a moral victory more than anything else.
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