3 ways OKC Thunder dominated the Lakers

The Oklahoma City Thunder battled with the L.A. Lakers on Thursday in the Paycom Center, seeing LeBron James suited up in Oklahoma City for the first time since December 10th, 2021.

This game started out sloppy for both teams before the Purple and Gold pulled away, earning a 14-point cushion in the first quarter. An Shai Gilgeous-Alexander eruption at the end of the first frame cut the lead to seven, and the Thunder were surprisingly able to wrestle the lead away from the Lakers before Gilgeous-Alexander returned midway through the second period.

3 Ways the OKC Thunder were able to dominate the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday: 133-103.

After regaining the lead in the second frame, the OKC Thunder never looked back, ballooning their cushion to as many as 23 points in this contest. Despite five lead changes and six ties, the Thunder controlled this tilt for the majority of the 48 minutes.

The Oklahoma City Thunder were able to dominate the Lakers in three key facets, beyond just the obvious rest advantage the Bricktown boys had.

This marked the final game of a four-game road trip for the LaLa Land ballers, who were on the second night of a back-to-back just flying in from Detroit. Despite LeBron James being in the lineup, there were clearly stretches from him were the fatigue set in.

Anthony Davis was dominant in this game, but the Thunder made him work for every bucket. Sometimes, though, there is nothing you can do when matched up with an MVP-caliber player.

Despite Davis going off for 31 points, here are three ways the Oklahoma City Thunder dominated the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night.