LeBron James didn’t sugarcoat something after the Lakers dropped a 119-110 loss to the Thunder, providing a blunt evaluation of the place the 2 franchises presently stand.
OKC performed with out Shai Gilgeous-Alexander whereas the Lakers have been with out Luka Doncic and in the long run, Oklahoma Metropolis’s vitality and execution proved decisive, significantly late within the recreation.
The Thunder dominated the hustle areas, profitable the rebounding battle 45-37, together with 14-9 on the offensive glass, whereas additionally forcing turnovers that created a six-point benefit in factors off errors.
James, who led Los Angeles with 22 factors, admitted the closing stretch uncovered the largest distinction between the groups.
“[They] made photographs,” James stated. “Principally we acquired some actually beauty within the fourth quarter, simply wasn’t in a position to come via. They have been in a position to make some, get some 50-50 balls, get some additional possessions. Yeah, typically it’s simply make or miss, they usually made greater than we did within the fourth.”
The Thunder’s defensive strain persistently disrupted the Lakers’ rhythm, one thing James credited to Oklahoma Metropolis’s perimeter depth and exercise.
“You need me to match us to them? That’s a championship staff proper there. We’re not,” James advised reporters. “We are able to’t maintain vitality and energy for 48 minutes, they usually can. That’s why they received a championship.”
James highlighted a number of key defenders who dictated the tempo of the sport.
“They’re primary in protection, statistically, I’d say after with a pair different groups,” James stated. “However yeah, they put quite a lot of strain, they acquired quite a lot of guys that may prolong the protection, with Cason [Wallace] and clearly A.C. [Alex Caruso], [Luguentz] Dort and J-Dub [Jalen Williams] and quite a lot of these guys can actually get to the ball and like push your offense out of the scoring space.
“I assumed we did a good job of making an attempt to execute in addition to we needed to and we nonetheless, like I stated, we had some nice seems to be nonetheless, we had quite a lot of actually, actually beauty from 3-point line that didn’t go, some across the rim as effectively.”
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