Even with rust clearly visible following a long, eight-day layover in between playoff rounds, the OKC Thunder handily took care of business in Game 1 of their semifinal matchup against the Lakers.
They did so by taking full advantage of arguably Los Angeles' biggest weakness -- turnovers.
Coming into this series, it was widely believed that the key for OKC to breeze past LA would be to exploit their struggles with holding onto the ball.
Throughout the regular season, the Lakers ranked a middling 15 in turnovers per game (14.5 ). These woes only plummeted once Luka Doncic went down with his late-campaign hamstring strain, as they placed as the 10-worst club in this department (15.2) from April 3 on and have ranked in the 13 percentile in turnover percentage with their superstar off the floor.
Here in the playoffs, they currently rank dead-last in turnovers with 17.7 a night.
Needless to say, the Thunder, who are the league's best team at creating turnovers and the playoffs' second-best offense when fresh off the swipe, capitalized on these blunders as anticipated, as the Lakers coughed up the ball 18 times on Tuesday night, ultimately leading to 20 points for OKC.
On top of being their best offensive weapon, Luka is also Los Angeles' primary ball-handler.
All throughout the postseason, his services in this area of play have been sorely missed, and this was made even more apparent with this Lakers backcourt now being forced to square off against the pesky guard talents of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Cason Wallace, Lu Dort, and Alex Caruso.
Thunder defense was the true difference-maker in Game 1
Over the last two seasons, the Thunder have established themselves as the best defensive unit in the entire association.
They put this status on full display in their opener against the Lakers.
Even beyond forced turnovers, Oklahoma City was an absolute nightmare for Los Angeles' aged and incredibly unathletic offense, holding them to a putrid 41.2 percent shooting from the floor on the night.
They were all the more devastating to deal with when All-Star Chet Holmgren (24 points, 12 rebounds) served as the primary defender, as LeBron James and company scored just two points on 1-of-9 shooting from the floor when the big man was the main contester.
To put this into perspective, Holmgren's three blocks on the night were more than the number of points Los Angeles registered in these situations.
As the old saying goes, defense wins championships. The Thunder proved this to be true just last season, and, in their quest for a second-straight title, they seem to be on their way toward riding this level of defensive dominance to an easy second-round win over the Lakers.
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