{"id":730657,"date":"2026-05-10T13:03:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T13:03:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/730657\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T13:03:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T13:03:20","slug":"lebron-james-hands-stern-reality-check-to-lakers-after-going-down-0-3-vs-thunder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/730657\/","title":{"rendered":"LeBron James Hands Stern Reality Check to Lakers After Going Down 0-3 vs Thunder"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> actually began with the right plan\u2026 Without Luka Doncic<\/a>, LA had a brief two-point lead last night. But now, twice in a row, the Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> has come back from a deficit, small or large, and this time they registered a blowout 131-108 win. It all went south from the third frame onwards. The Purple and Gold were outscored by 25 points in the second half, their second-worst home playoff performance since moving to LA. And even though LeBron James spilled the beans on exactly what went wrong, holding everybody accountable, it isn\u2019t a problem that cropped up out of nowhere.<\/p>\n

LA\u2019s struggles just after the halftime break have persisted since last year. When the season began in October, after the opener, head coach JJ Redick<\/a> was very vocal, calling his troops a \u201cterrible third-quarter team.\u201d The head coach then stated that they needed to \u201crethink some things,\u201d but despite a fat trade deadline passing, those problems persist and have cost them back-to-back playoff games.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe third quarter, we start with that,\u201d a dejected LeBron said to the media<\/a>. \u201cWe didn\u2019t have the energy, the effort, and they put a 30-plus point quarter on us. Kinda took care of the game right there, honestly. We had moments, obviously, in the first half that was really good for us. We did a good job of sharing the ball and knocking down shots. In that third quarter, we didn\u2019t knock down shots. We didn\u2019t defend or get stops.\u201d This wasn\u2019t the end of his assessment.<\/p>\n

A media member subsequently reminded James that the Lakers were collectively -31 in the third frame. The 41-year-old\u2019s answer remained cryptic, though, with him saying, \u201cI don\u2019t know, the numbers speak for itself.\u201d OKC<\/a> outscored the home team 33-20 in the third quarter and never looked back since. James had 19 points, eight assists, and six rebounds. Austin Reaves<\/a> added 17 points. But more importantly, the duo added just 2 points in the third frame! Reaves went scoreless, Bron connected just 1 of 4, and the Lakers barely shot 8 of 22 from the field.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Thunder drilled 13 of 22 shots, and 5 of them were from beyond the arc. But OKC\u2019s night at Crypto.com Arena was difficult as well. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a> missed nine of his first 11 shots and had fewer double-teams than in the series\u2019 first two games. SGA and Chet Holmgren<\/a> combined for just 9 points, but the others crucially stepped up in the third quarter, something that rarely happens with LA.<\/p>\n

Guard Ajay Mitchell<\/a> dropped his playoff career high overall 24 points, and 9 of them came in the third. Similarly, Isaiah Joe<\/a>, who had 12 points, scored half of them right after the break. They became the catalyst for the comeback, and James knew he had to acknowledge OKC\u2019s depth. \u201cThey\u2019re pretty damn good from top to bottom, they don\u2019t let their foot off the gas,\u201d the Lakers veteran said. \u201cIt\u2019s not surprising. You\u2019ve seen them over the years. They have a lot of bodies, and they have a lot of guys who can do multiple things on the floor. So, it helps to have that depth.\u201d This was also a subtle jab at his own players\u2026<\/p>\n

\"MayMay 9, 2026; Los Angeles<\/a>, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers starters look on from the bench in the final minutes of game three of the second round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The current NBA champions\u2019 bench scored 40+ points, with Cason Wallace<\/a> being the highest contributor with 16. Apart from scoring, the Thunder have a lot of wing defenders and size. Head coach Mark Daigneault had a good defensive system that kept LA on a string. OKC outrebounded the Lakers 43-37, had 12 steals over LA\u2019s six, and forced Redick\u2019s team into 16 turnovers, which they scored 30 points on. The defense stifled even James and Reaves, and the duo struggled from the field, combining for 12 of 32.<\/p>\n

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The Lakers\u2019 bench failed to provide any spark, a problem that has persisted throughout the series. For Game 1, the Thunder outscored them 34-15, and in the second game, the gap was even wider, 48-20. Game 3 had a similar narrative, with Redick praising OKC. \u201cThey\u2019re an incredible basketball team,\u201d JJ said. \u201cThird straight game we\u2019re right there after 2 1\/2 quarters. We tried different lineups, different coverages. Still lost those minutes. Again, we\u2019ve got to be better, but I\u2019m not giving up on the series.\u201d When AR and James failed to inspire, the Purple and Gold bench scored 31 points, with Luke Kennard<\/a> leading with 18.<\/p>\n

However, that just isn\u2019t enough. The Lakers simply do not have the depth to absorb Oklahoma City<\/a>\u2019s rotation. When the Thunder tighten their grip, LA has not found a reliable way to respond. Rui Hachimura<\/a> scored only 21, and on days when this team doesn\u2019t have a standout third scoring option, they need 3-4 players to reach 20 points. Jake LaRavia<\/a> faced a DNP-CD, and Maxi Kleber<\/a>, who played instead, didn\u2019t work out at all. Deandre Ayton<\/a> entered Game 3 after missing 12 of 13 field goals in the last six quarters. But he didn\u2019t have a decent game either, nor did Jaxson Hayes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Redick subtly hinted at it. \u201cThe big thing with them is their depth,\u201d Redick said pregame. \u201cI mean, Mark (Daigneault) talked about it the other night. [Nikola Topic<\/a>] dealt with some health stuff, and their rookie is dealing with some health stuff now coming back from his offseason surgery. Literally, the other 13 guys are all top-seven or -eight rotation players in the NBA on any team. So they can just hit you with bodies as well. Just the nature of how they built that team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reaves is well aware of these facts<\/a> as well. \u201cThey\u2019re a connected group. Their pieces fit basically perfectly,\u201d he said to the media. \u201cIt\u2019s tough to beat them. They\u2019ve got a good coaching staff over that, that does a good job. Managing the game that his team needs to be managed. They\u2019ve got really good players.\u201d<\/p>\n

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As the Thunder make sure their pieces fit perfectly, the Lakers\u2019 biggest piece seems missing. The status of Luka Doncic remains uncertain, as he has missed the Lakers\u2019 14th consecutive game since straining his hamstring on April 2 in Oklahoma City. The Lakers<\/a> have their backs against the wall now, heading into a do-or-die Game 4 at home.<\/p>\n

The post LeBron James Hands Stern Reality Check to Lakers After Going Down 0-3 vs Thunder<\/a> appeared first on EssentiallySports<\/a>. Add EssentiallySports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Los Angeles Lakers actually began with the right plan\u2026 Without Luka Doncic, LA had a brief two-point…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":730658,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3794],"tags":[5577,1013,7,205,366,1586,292,194,4066,1624,4077,32,1661,4034,185,251,150,368,1171,3000,6,3110,378,475,179,211,1012,209],"class_list":["post-730657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston-rockets","tag-ajay-mitchell","tag-austin-reaves","tag-basketball","tag-cason-wallace","tag-chet-holmgren","tag-deandre-ayton","tag-houston","tag-houston-rockets","tag-houstonrockets","tag-isaiah-joe","tag-jake-laravia","tag-jaxson-hayes","tag-jj-redick","tag-la","tag-lebron-james","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-lakers","tag-luka-doncic","tag-luke-kennard","tag-maxi-kleber","tag-nba","tag-nikola-topic","tag-okc","tag-oklahoma-city","tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","tag-rockets","tag-rui-hachimura","tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116550422892692743","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=730657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/730658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=730657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=730657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=730657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}