Lakers, buried by Thunder’s depth, need to dig out of 0-2 deficit

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Lakers haven’t had a Shai Gilgeous-Alexander problem. 

They’ve had a non-Shai Gilgeous-Alexander problem.

Which is much worse, and one of the biggest reasons they’re trailing the Thunder, 0-2, in their best-of-seven second-round playoff series, which shifts to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Saturday and Game 4 on Monday after the Lakers’ Game 2 loss Thursday.

The Lakers are looking to avoid falling behind 0-3 — a deficit no team has overcome in a playoff series.

And if they don’t figure out how to win the minutes when Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning MVP who’ll likely repeat, isn’t on the floor, they’re facing quick elimination at the hands of the defending NBA champions. 

“I talked about it a little bit [on Wednesday], them being plus-nine in the non-SGA minutes [in Game 1],” coach JJ Redick said. “And then in the second half, we just got blitzed, 32-14, seven turnovers. They shot 14 free throws during that stretch. So we got to look at lineups, look at everything, try to figure out how we can be better in those minutes.”

The Thunder outscored the Lakers by nine points in the 13 minutes Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t play during Game 1.

They were even better without their best player in Game 2’s 125-107 victory, outscoring the Lakers by 13 points in the 20 minutes Gilgeous-Alexander was on the bench, giving the Thunder a combined 22-point advantage across 33 minutes in the first two games of the series when Gilgeous-Alexander wasn’t on the floor.

The Thunder have been a plus-14 in the 63 minutes he has played in the series.

“We got to keep up the intensity even when he’s out,” Rui Hachimura said. “When he got off the court, we kind of relaxed a little bit. We still have to keep our intensity up. All these guys, they can make plays. We can’t have those little mistakes.”

Those “little mistakes” Hachimura referred to were on full display during the third quarter the Lakers lost 36-22, including 32-14 in the final 10 ½ minutes of the quarter after Gilgeous-Alexander subbed out early after picking up his fourth personal foul.

Poor defensive rebounding also hurt LA; the Thunder had four offensive rebounds for nine second-chance points off those extra opportunities when Gilgeous-Alexander was on the bench during the third.

The Thunder scored 17 second-chance points off nine offensive rebounds in Game 2. OKC took advantage of the Lakers’ switching defense, having its big men create extra opportunities by grabbing offensive boards over the Lakers’ smaller players. 

“We did a good job with our first defense,” LeBron James said. “But we got to clean the glass. We got to do a better job. We let Chet [Holmgren] get some offensive rebounds, get to the free-throw line or get some putbacks. Against a team like that, you can’t give up second-chance points. We got to do a better job of hitting and not allowing them to get second-chance points.”

Another issue was not staying attached to Jared McCain, who followed a 15-point performance on four 3-pointers in Game 1 with an 18-point showing on 4-for-5 shooting on 3s in Game 2.

Too many fouls. Too many turnovers.

Too many lapses that the Thunder took advantage of with ease.

Holmgren (22 points, nine rebounds, four steals, three assists and two blocked shots), Ajay Mitchell (20 points and six assists) and McCain combined for 60 points, including outscoring the Lakers 23-22 in the third. 

“We need to up our physicality,” Luke Kennard said. “Obviously, we’ve been putting two guys on Shai a lot. And kind of let some of those guys get open looks. But when Shai’s off the floor, we really got to sit down and guard, and try to take some of those guys out.
Our physicality has to go up another level, and we know that. And it’s something we’ll definitely talk about and, hopefully, figure out.”

And if the Lakers don’t figure it out, they won’t have any shot against the Thunder.

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