OKC Thunder 3 takeaways from blowout loss against Lakers
By Brandon Dale
The OKC Thunder fall short as Dennis Schroder returns to Chesapeake. T.I. offers three takeaways in a blowout loss to the Lakers.
The OKC Thunder hosted the Los Angeles Lakers Wednesday night as OKC failed to post the first home win of the season as the Thunder are still winless at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Dennis Schroder returned to OKC for the first time since being traded and LeBron James looked excellent as the Lakers beat OKC with relative ease by a wide margin of 128-99.
LeBron led the way with 26 points, seven assists while recording six rebounds in just 27 minutes of action. It is somewhat hard to imagine that James is going on his 18th year in the NBA while looking this polished and healthy.
Leading into the match TI noted how important Al Horford’s presence would be. However, it appears the Thunder will load manage the 34-year old in second games of back-to-back sets much like they did last season with Danilo Gallinari.
Horford’s lack of presence in the interior seemed glaring as the Lakers decimated OKC in the paint, scoring an astounding 56 points. Multiple scoring runs were featured as OKC fell behind early and failed to find any scoring rhythm.
The game seemed to get away from OKC during the second quarter. The Lakers went on a 16-0 scoring run with 3:33 left in the first half. Fortunately, OKC went on a 14-2 run, cutting the deficit to 12 points by halftime.
The second half seemed arbitrary as OKC was playing to offer experience for its collective youth. The brightest spot of the night came in the form of a seven-foot Serbian named Aleksej Pokusevski.
OKC Thunder rookie showcases tremendous upside
Pokusevski recorded his first game in double figures against Los Angeles. Poku put up an impressive stat line as the Native from Serbia logged 10 points, four rebounds, and added four blocks in the loss to the Lakers.
The swingman found some valuable minutes during the second half where he will look to improve on this recent performance.
Take a look at his put-back dunk by the seven-footer:
https://twitter.com/okcthunder/status/1349535073335468032?s=20
Although it is difficult to find success in failing, OKC Thunder fans should welcome this activity from such a raw, talented prospect.