Lakers guard Austin Reaves drives to the basket past Oklahoma City Thunder guard Alex Caruso during the first half on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Lakers center Jaxson Hayes, left, dunks while under pressure from Oklahoma City Thunder center Chet Holmgren during the first half on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jalen Williams, left, shoots as Lakers forward Rui Hachimura defends during the first half on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Lakers forward LeBron James drives during the first half of their game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) dunks while being as the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Jaylin Williams (6) defends during the first half on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena. (Photo by Kevin Terrell/Getty Images)
Lakers guard Marcus Smart drives between Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein, left, and guard Cason Wallace, right, during the first half on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Alex Caruso (9) celebrates after making a 3-point shot during the first half of a game against the Lakers on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Lakers forward LeBron James handles the ball as the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Chet Holmgren defends during the first half on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena. (Photo by Kevin Terrell/Getty Images)
Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt (2) looks to shoot while under pressure from Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein (55) during the first half on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Isaiah Joe (11) gets to the basket to score as Lakers forward LeBron James (23) watches during the first half on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Lakers forward LeBron James, left, handles the ball as Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jalen Williams defends during the first half on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Isaiah Joe celebrates after making a 3-point shot during the first half of a game against the Lakers on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Lakers center Jaxson Hayes dunks during the first half of a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena. (Photo by Kevin Terrell/Getty Images)
Lakers guard Austin Reaves passes the ball as Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jaylin Williams defends during the first half on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Alex Caruso, far right, shoots during the first half of a game against the Lakers on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena. (Photo by Kevin Terrell/Getty Images)
Lakers forward LeBron James (23) reacts after dunking during the first half of a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Injured Lakers star Luka Doncic stands on the court during a timeout in a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Lakers guard Austin Reaves handles the ball as the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Cason Wallace defends during the first half on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena. (Photo by Kevin Terrell/Getty Images)
Lakers star LeBron James shoots during the first half of a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena. (Photo by Kevin Terrell/Getty Images)
Lakers guard Austin Reaves, center, drives to the basket as Oklahoma City Thunder forward Buddy Boeheim, right, defends during the first half on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Lakers forward LeBron James, right, defends against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Cason Wallace during the second half on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Lakers forward LeBron James gets to the basket for a layup past Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort (5) during the second half on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jaylin Williams looks to shoot as Lakers forward Rui Hachimura defends during the second half on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves, center, drives to the basket past Oklahoma City Thunder guard Isaiah Joe during an NBA basketball game Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Alex Caruso celebrates after making a 3-point shot during the second half of a game against the Lakers on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Lakers forward LeBron James gets to the basket for a layup as Oklahoma City Thunder guard Isaiah Joe, left, and guard Luguentz Dort, right, watch during the second half on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Lakers forward LeBron James, left, and guard Austin Reaves celebrate a basket during the second half of a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jared McCain handles the ball as Lakers guard Marcus Smart defends during the second half on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena. (Photo by Kevin Terrell/Getty Images)
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Isaiah Joe (11) shoots as Lakers forward LeBron James (23) looks on during the first half on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren, right, defends as Lakers center Deandre Ayton tries to shoot during the second half on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena. (Photo by Kevin Terrell/Getty Images)
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Isaiah Joe drives as Lakers star LeBron James defends during the second half on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. The Lakers lost, 119-110. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jalen Williams (8) dunks in front of Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) during the first half on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Injured Lakers guard Luka Doncic, center, watches from the bench during the second half of a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Lakers star LeBron James dunks as Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren (7) defends during the second half on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena. (Photo by Kevin Terrell/Getty Images)
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jalen Williams (8) puts up a shot as Lakers center Deandre Ayton defends on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
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Lakers guard Austin Reaves drives to the basket past Oklahoma City Thunder guard Alex Caruso during the first half on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
LOS ANGELES — JJ Redick and Mark Daigneault fielded similarly-themed questions during their respective pre-game media sessions on Monday night – and for good reason.
How close is the NBA’s MVP race?
Luka Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the league’s reigning MVP, are entrenched in a two-dog race for the award as of early February. Doncic leads the league with 32.8 points per game, while Gilgeous-Alexander sits just behind him at 31.8. It’s that close; the Lakers’ Slovenian superstar also ranks second in the league in assists per game (8.6).
That being said, when the Lakers and Thunder faced off at Crypto.com Arena – the third game of an eight-game Lakers’ homestand that spans the All-Star break – neither of the star scorers was on the court. With Doncic sitting out a second consecutive game with what Redick called a “mild hamstring strain,” and Gilgeous-Alexander sidelined by an abdominal strain for his third straight contest, both sides needed team efforts to try to bridge the gap, and the balanced Thunder ultimately outlasted the Lakers, 119-110.
“That’s a championship team right there,” Lakers star LeBron James said. “We’re not.”
James scored 14 of his 22 points in the second half and finished with 10 assists and six rebounds for the Lakers (32-20), who found themselves in a Thunder-style physical game that featured 52 combined free throws. Marcus Smart shot 4 for 7 from 3-point range on his way to 19 points, and Austin Reaves scored 16 off the bench.
The Lakers cleaned up their first-half turnover woes – OKC scored 20 points off of 10 Lakers turnovers before halftime – and only produced five in the second half, but the Thunder (41-13) won the fourth quarter to put an end to the Lakers’ three-game winning streak.
“When you let them get out and play in transition like that, they’re a tough team to beat,” Reaves said. “That’s too many turnovers.”
Redick put it bluntly before the game: When the Lakers last played the Thunder – losing 129-92 on Nov. 12 at OKC – they turned the ball over 20 times. It couldn’t happen again.
“Regardless of who’s in the lineup, for us, we’ve got to do a better job of limiting our unforced turnovers,” Redick said. “That’s been a problem all season.”
The Lakers started the second half in relatively dominant fashion – outscoring the Thunder 33-26 in the third quarter thanks to a six-point surge from forwards Jake LaRavia and James, the latter of whom assisted on a trio of 3-pointers in the period. They turned the ball over just once and used a 22-3 run to open an 85-77 lead with 5:09 left in the period. The Thunder, who led by 14 in the first half, changed the momentum and took a 93-91 lead into the fourth after a late Alex Caruso 3-pointer.
“When you play the best teams, and Oklahoma City is clearly, you know they’re the best team, you have to have a really high level of effort, and you have to have a really high level of execution,” Redick said. “And then in key stretches of the game, our execution wasn’t great.”
Redick turned to his team ignoring “basic shell principles” on defense, specifically on the trio of 3-pointers from Jaylin Williams in the second half, as well as the abandonment of getting James the ball in size mismatch opportunities in the fourth quarter – limiting James to just four points among the Lakers’ 19 fourth-quarter points.
“(James) playing against smaller players was how we got back in the game, and we didn’t do a good job of getting him the ball,” Redick said.
Said James: “We can’t sustain energy and effort for 48 minutes, and they can. That’s why they won the championship.”
The Lakers had their chances to stabilize a lead. Within the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, Redick successfully challenged a foul and an out-of-bounds call. On both following possessions the Lakers failed to score. At one point, LaRavia missed wide-open or slightly-contested 3-point shots on three consecutive possessions.
“I got three really good looks and I missed all of them,” LaRavia said. “It was a tough swing for us.”
Even officiating fell on empty ears, with Reaves attempting to weave through Isaiah Joe and Chet Holmgren to the basket, getting tripped, but instead being called for a turnover after losing the ball.
Reaves was called for a technical foul seconds later, which led to a free throw from Joe to give the Thunder an 88-87 lead.
“I played pretty bad in the second half,” Reaves said. “I gotta be better. … Got the tech, let that kind of get to me a little bit. … So I was just a little frustrated after that and couldn’t get back in the flow.”
During a Lakers’ cold spell on offense, forward Jalen Williams sank a pair of jumpers and forward Jaylin Williams drained a 3-pointer during an 11-2 run that gave the Thunder a 109-101 lead with 3:05 left.
Holmgren had a key put-back dunk with 1:17 remaining for a five-point lead, but the Lakers’ Rui Hachimura answered with a layup through contact to make it a one-possession game again. Jalen Williams then posted up for a short step-back jumper from the center of the key to push the lead back to five with 51.9 seconds to go.
“Once he gets to that bump down that low, it’s really hard to just get a contest and make him miss that shot,” LaRavia said of Jalen Williams, who returned from a 10-game absence to pace the Thunder with 23 points. “He’s good at what he does.”
James then missed a 3-point attempt at the other end, ending the back-and-forth bid, and the Thunder closed out the win at the free-throw line.
No Doncic. No Gilgeous-Alexander. Toe-to-toe with the Western Conference’s best, Smart felt as if Monday night was a measuring stick-test for the Lakers.
“The way we fought, our sense of urgency, all the way up to the last five minutes, we were playing great basketball on both ends of the floor,” Smart said. “I think we’re in the right spot. We just gotta stay, fix, clean up some things. I think we’ll be all right.”
Joe scored 19 points while shooting 4 for 8 from 3-point range, and Caruso scored 17, both off the bench. Holmgren finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
“You’re playing against the best team in the NBA… we need to hit singles against teams like this, and don’t need a home run.”
JJ Redick addresses the media after the #Lakers lose to the Thunder 119-110, snapping their 3-game winning streak. #LakeShow pic.twitter.com/Q78Tpwr8Wb
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) February 10, 2026
LeBron: “We can’t sustain energy and effort for 48 minutes and they can. That’s why they won a championship.” pic.twitter.com/CBMK3s3P8Q
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) February 10, 2026
Austin Reaves (16 PTS, 7 AST, 2 REB) discusses his 2nd half struggles, frustrations with officiating that led to a tech, and the team’s improvements since their last matchup. pic.twitter.com/QbIZayAEBy
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) February 10, 2026