OKLAHOMA CITY — The Lakers understand that the 3-point shooting from their blowout victory over the league-best Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday can’t be relied upon on a game-to-game basis.
Even with the Lakers creating 36 “open” to “wide-open” 3-point attempts, making 20 of those looks from behind the arc (55.6%) is anomalous. So was the Lakers converting 15 of their first 20 3-point attempts to create a 29-point lead over the Thunder before halftime en route to making a franchise-high-tying 22 3-pointers.
But what’s more repeatable is the defensive discipline, effort and attention to detail they played with that helped them limit the Thunder, who entered Sunday scoring 120.3 points per game for the league’s fourth-best mark, including a league-best 123.8 points in 2025, to 99 points.
It was just the third time an opponent held the Thunder to fewer than 100 points this season and the first since the Thunder scored 98 points in a Jan. 17 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.
“I told them after the game there, ‘you can’t rely on shooting 22 of 40 [on 3s]’,” Coach JJ Redick said after Sunday’s game. “Generating 40 3s and giving yourself those types of looks, that’s something that can be sustainable.
“But defending the way we defended and holding this team under 100 with a [96] possession game, that’s elite defense. That’s gonna give you a chance to win every night.”
The Lakers’ defensive performance was aesthetically and statistically one of their best of the season – and arguably their best considering the quality of the opponent they faced.
Their strategy seemingly centered around making the Thunder, one of the league’s most prolific and efficient driving teams, see multiple bodies on drives – especially when it was All-NBA guard and MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and All-Star wing Jalen Williams with the ball in their hands.
The Lakers frequently “greened,” which is their defensive strategy in which they load up the strongside with a help defender to deter them from getting to the basket/rim, especially against the team’s primary ball handlers in isolation situations.
— Khobi Price (@khobiprice.bsky.social) 2025-04-08T03:56:42.286Z
They were also physical defensively without fouling – a key when guarding Gilgeous-Alexander especially – making it more difficult for him to get off clean looks.
Dorian Finney-Smith, Rui Hachimura, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves had strong defensive moments against Gilgeous-Alexander in isolation situations, even when the Thunder scored on them.
— Khobi Price (@khobiprice.bsky.social) 2025-04-08T04:00:21.248Z
Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 26 points on 12-of-23 shooting to go with nine assists, but didn’t take a free throw, the first time he didn’t get to the charity stripe for the first time since Dec. 18, 2021.
He entered Sunday second in the league in free-throw attempts per game (8.9). The Thunder attempted just 12 free throws, making nine.
Williams finished with 16 points but on 4-of-14 shooting to go with six rebounds, three assists and three steals.
The Lakers showing bodies seemingly impacted Williams’ ability to finish near the rim, with the 23-year-old shooting 3 for 8 inside the paint.
“We know that they’re very good when it comes to getting into the paint, attracting a lot [of defensive attention],” Lakers star LeBron James said. “They do a great job of getting to the free-throw line. They do a great job of getting offensive rebounds and second-chance points. And those are some of the controllables that you can control. Not putting your hand in a cookie jar when a lot of those guys were driving. Shai, J-Dub, some of those other guys, you got to just live with the contest, make or miss. We did a great job of paying attention to detail in that.”
It’s unknown whether the Lakers will play their best players in the rematch against the Thunder on Tuesday night.
James, Doncic, Reaves, Finney-Smith and Gabe Vincent were listed as questionable for Tuesday.
Hachimura was ruled out.
Tuesday is the Lakers’ final back-to-back set of the season, with the Lakers playing the Mavericks on Wednesday in what will be Doncic’s first game back in Dallas since he was shockingly traded to the Lakers in early February.
LAKERS AT OKLAHOMA CITY
When: Tuesday, 5 p.m. PT
Where: Paycom Center, Oklahoma City
TV/radio: Spectrum SportsNet/710 AM
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