Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 30 points and nine assists in just three quarters of action to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 121-92 home win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday.
Playing the second night of a back-to-back, the Thunder certainly didn’t look fatigued, reeling off a 23-7 run that started just more than two minutes into the game to take control and continuing to pile on the rest of the way.
Oklahoma City led by as many as 32 in the first half and 37 in the third quarter as all of the Thunder’s starters except for Ajay Mitchell were able to sit out the fourth quarter for the second consecutive night.
The Thunder beat Golden State 126-102 on Tuesday in the first game of the back-to-back.
Oklahoma City has won four consecutive games and 12 of 13 to start the season.
The Thunder excelled defensively even without Luguentz Dort, one of the league’s top defenders.
Luka Doncic never found an offensive rhythm, finishing with a team-high 19 points but going just 7 of 20 from the field and 1 of 7 on 3-pointers with four turnovers. Doncic was minus-31 in nearly 33 minutes.
With the game long decided, Doncic sat out the fourth quarter.
In back-to-back nights, the Oklahoma City held Doncic and Stephen Curry to a combined 30 points on 11-of-33 shooting.
Austin Reaves was just 4 of 12 from the field and missed all five of his shots from beyond the arc as the Lakers finished just 40.3% from the field — a season low — in dropping their second game in the last three after a five-game winning streak.
Los Angeles came into the game leading the NBA in shooting percentage and hadn’t shot worse than 44.6% in a game this season.
The Thunder forced 20 Lakers turnovers, five for Reaves. Gilgeous-Alexander had two steals.
Isaiah Joe scored 21 points off the bench, hitting four 3-pointers, as Oklahoma City had seven players score in double figures.
The Thunder shot 50% from the floor and outscored the Lakers 48-30 in the paint.
