Luka Dončić is ready for the King's return

In the home of the champions, the Los Angeles Lakers did not just experience a cold shower; a full‑blown storm awaited them. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his teammates, despite numerous injuries, toyed with the Californians and showed Luka Dončić that the path to the title still runs through Oklahoma. The Lakers have a lot of work ahead of them; this was a night when the star power and experience of LeBron James would have come in very handy. The defeat by 121:90 could have been even worse: in 36 minutes the Lakers scored only 64 points and conceded 100, and at one point they trailed by as many as 37.

Prodal Dončića in si skopal grob – Nico Harrison je dobil nogo

Dončić does not have fond memories of Oklahoma. His most recent visit to the land of the champions ended on April 9 with a defeat and the ejection of the Slovenian star, who received an incomprehensible (and undeserved) technical for talking back, which stirred up quite a storm. It was also against Oklahoma that he recorded one of his greatest successes, when on the way to the 2024 Finals he eliminated the Thunder with Dallas in six games after a real nail-biter and a missed three at the buzzer—this time the Thunder settled accounts with No. 77.

Alex Caruso caused a lot of problems for No. 77 and took quite a few hard hits. Photo Joshua Gateley/AFP

From the opening minute the home defenders were breathing down his neck—always at least two, and when needed he faced four obstacles in the paint. Drives to the rim were thwarted by the long arms of Chet Holmgren, and potential assists were undone by teammates' chronic cold spell; their shooting touch was left behind with the lost luggage at the airport in Charlotte. With individual flashes Luka just about kept pace with Oklahoma in the first quarter, then the snowball started to roll, and by the end of their worst half of the season the Lakers already trailed by 30, leaving no doubt about the winner. Shortly before the midpoint of the third quarter, the Lakers had only 52 points to their name and a miserable two points from the bench; the remainder of the game until the final buzzer was a mere formality.

LeBron is close

Against the league's best defense, the Lakers indulged in too casual a game and committed 20 turnovers, a mistake teams pay for dearly in Oklahoma. They already had nine in the first quarter alone, the home side just one, and the excellent Gilgeous-Alexander did not even need to play at full throttle to reach 30 points. In a game in which they shot under 30 percent from the field for almost three quarters, the only bright spot is that they avoided new injuries.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander comfortably won this duel of regular-season MVP candidates. Photo: Joshua Gateley/AFP

By the final buzzer the stands resembled a Slovenian league game—the crowd had long since gone to celebrate the convincing win over the star-studded challengers in the Western Conference. Dončić and his teammates could do nothing but head to the locker room with grim faces and think about the weekend ahead. Back-to-back games on Saturday in New Orleans and, especially, on Sunday in Milwaukee will be both a challenge and an opportunity to finish the road trip with a positive return. They may also be the last without Gabe Vincent and James, who are close to returning to the court. "LeBron is practicing with our G League team; he went through a full practice as normal and then another solid 12–15 minutes of five-on-five at full speed. We don’t want to rush it, but he looks good," revealed coach J. J. Redick.

Worse than Olimpija

Luka and Austin Reaves will have at least two more opportunities to show what Lakers basketball should look like if James packs his bags in the summer and waves California goodbye. But his return will not plug all the holes in the lineup; the Lakers' main problem this season again remains three-point shooting. If not for Dalton Knecht’s showcase once the game in Oklahoma had already been decided, they would have finished with only seven made threes. That is too little even for success on European courts – Cedevita Olimpija, a team that does not rely on threes, made eight in Wednesday’s win over the Venetians (93:65) – and in the NBA you cannot win games without at least 30 points from distance.

Česa takšnega kot v Oklahomi jeseni Dončić še ni doživel