Tuesday night was a prime example of a different game, same outcome for the Los Angeles Lakers. After getting blown out by 43 last Thursday night at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder, they suffered the same result in the rematch Tuesday, getting destroyed 123-87. This time, the Lakers wasted a strong performance from Luke Kennard in the process.
In 23 minutes of action, the former Duke Blue Devil had 10 points and nine assists. That followed up his impressive 15-point, 16-rebound, and 11-assist triple-double against the Dallas Mavericks where he looked marvelous.
With Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, and this time around, LeBron James all out of the lineup, Kennard once again stepped up and shouldered a heavy offensive load for the Lakers. It didn't matter because the rest of the team played like they'd forgotten they had a game that night.
This was the second time since Luka's been out that Kennard played like his name was Luka Kennard instead of Luke. Kennard has embodied the next-man-up mentality to the fullest since AR and Luka went down. At some point, he's going to need some help from his teammates.
Lakers wasted another strong LUKA Kennard performance
The idea that the Lakers would beat the Thunder on Tuesday without LeBron, Luka, and AR was always unlikely. However, seeing a little fight from the Lakers would have been nice.
Watching this game felt like night two of a back-to-back, like it was just a scheduled loss for LA. It doesn't matter how depleted the team is. With the less than five games left in the season—there has to be some urgency, you can't just roll over and die. Kennard and Drew Timme were the only two players who truly brought their A game against OKC, and that's never going to be enough on its own.
JJ Redick CALLED OUT the entire roster 😭
— BrickCenter (@BrickCenter_) April 8, 2026
On Rui: “He wasn’t doing his job so I took him out.”
On Vando: “It was a confluence of things he did wrong.”
On Ayton: “He can’t catch the ball.” pic.twitter.com/E3y4giP281
LA's effort was so bad that even JJ Redick looked at a loss for words post-game. The second-year bench boss called out Deandre Ayton for not being able to catch the ball, said that Rui Hachimura was failing to do his job, and that Jared Vanderbilt made numerous mistakes.
With all three of the Lakers’ stars watching from a distance, this was a game for LA's secondary players to really put their foot down and say we belong. They didn't have to win; they just needed to compete.
Although Lakers fans once again got to see Kennard step into that lead creator role and thrive, what good is it if his teammates can’t match that effort? The Luka Kennard persona has been fun, but with the playoffs around the corner, these strong performances need to be backed up by wins.