As of late, the OKC Thunder have grown accustomed to putting themselves in the record books.
Against the Lakers, however, they fell on the wrong side of history, allowing a franchise-record 15 first-half three-pointers to the Lakers. Los Angeles would finish the game shooting a blistering 55.0 percent from behind the arc, well above their season average prior to the game of 36.1 percent.
The blowout loss certainly doesn't help the Thunder's case in the national media's viewpoint, as this game's result backs up claims made by a certain former NBA veteran. It also doesn't help that ESPN analyst Shannon Sharpe now gains more fuel for the fire of his "Lakers in five" take, insinuating that the Thunder don't stand a chance against LA come playoff time.
The Lakers' top trio of Luka Doncic, LeBron James, and Austin Reaves combined for 69 points while going 27-for-51 from the field, completely outclassing the combined 54 points from the likes of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren.
Loss number 14 on the season comes at a worrisome time for the Thunder, marking back-to-back defeats for just the first time since Nov. 19.
As the rest of the league begins to ramp up for the postseason, Oklahoma City will need to regain its stride in a rematch against the Lakers on April 8. Until then, let's take a look at the studs and duds for the Thunder's largest loss of the season.
Stud: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Despite the loss, the MVP frontrunner once again led the charge offensively for his team. In 30:26 minutes, Gilgeous-Alexander dropped 26 points on 12-for-23 shooting and dished out 9 assists.
He was one of four Thunder players to shoot better than 40 percent from the floor.
Over the last 10 games, Gilgeous-Alexander had struggled in the efficiency department, shooting above 50 percent in just four matchups. While 26 points may be well below his season average of 32.6, his highly-regarded efficiency made a return to the table Sunday afternoon.
Stud: Turnover battle
Oklahoma City has been historically good in the turnover battle this season, and it kept up against the Lakers. Through 78 games, the Thunder have forced 409 more turnovers than they've given up, a feat only four teams have accomplished.
Against the Lakers, the dominance continued. Oklahoma City committed seven turnovers, compared to the Lakers' 15 (two each from James and Doncic and three from Reaves). In an otherwise poor defensive game, the Thunder can still hang their hat on winning the turnover battle.
Dud: Perimeter defense
The story of this game can't be told without mentioning the Lakers' incredibly hot three-point shooting and, in turn, the Thunder's poor perimeter defense.
Sometimes, there's nothing that can be done about a heavily contested pull-up deep ball from Doncic, but that wasn't the case for all 22 of the Lakers' three-pointers.
Oklahoma City allowed the trio of James, Doncic and Reaves to pick them apart, getting to spots at will (cashed home on 50.0 percent from distances as a collective) and finding open shooters. Failing ability to recover after double-teams left Dorian Finney-Smith and Gabe Vincent open often enough to make eight combined three-pointers.
Dud: The bench
Through the first three quarters, the Lakers' bench outscored Oklahoma City's 30-14. The difference shrank as the game came to a close, but the Thunder's efforts were ineffective at that point, as the game had been long decided.
With the exception of a red-hot Cason Wallace (8 points on 57.1 percent shooting), each bench player to log minutes shot 33.3 percent or worse from the field at the time of the final buzzer.
Aaron Wiggins continued what is shaping up to be a mini-slump of sorts, as this now makes back-to-back games with a single-digit point total (4) on 33.3 percent or less shooting (16.7).
The bench unit also accounted for five of the team's seven turnovers on the day, rounding out an overall poor offensive performance.
Dud: Free throw volume
Out of 11 Thunder players to log minutes in the game, only two made it to the free throw line. Jalen Williams shot 7-for-8, and Wiggins went 2-for-4.
Prior to Sunday's contest, Oklahoma City averaged 20.4 attempts per game, tied for 27th in the league.
This also marks the first game of the entire season in which Gilgeous-Alexander did not attempt a single free throw. This performance directly followed his outing against Houston, where he shot a previous season-low two free throws.
This alarming habit for both Gilgeous-Alexander and the team is once again coming at the wrong time as the playoffs rapidly approach.