Lakers lose second NBA Cup game in blowout loss to Thunder

The logic in some corners of the Lakers’ locker room last season was that the best path to the NBA Finals would run not through Denver, but instead through Oklahoma City — the team tied with the Nuggets for the West’s best record.

Denver was too big, too physical and had dominated the Lakers. And Torden didn’t have that.

The Lakers had won three straight against the Thunder and stared down their youth, speed and athleticism with wisdom and power. It gave the Lakers an edge and the belief that if they faced Oklahoma City in the playoffs, they were the tougher team.

A lot can change in one season.

“They’ve made a jump, but they’re also missing a big piece,” LeBron James said, referring to injured big man Chet Holmgren and guard Alex Caruso. “So, they’ll take another leap. But a really good team. Well coached.”

On Friday, in the final game of their NBA Cup pool play, the Lakers hosted the Thunder and felt Oklahoma City’s newfound power in a bruise. 99-93 losses it left LA beaten and almost certainly out of the next stage of the tournament.

The Cup game and the final tiebreak scenarios will be completed next week, but with two losses and a negative point difference, the Lakers’ chances of advancing are slim.

The Lakers found out Friday that when you absorb so much physically, there’s also a mental cost to be paid.

Max Christie beat Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on a drive to the basket in the final 24 seconds and grabbed him like the Lakers had a foul to give. They didn’t, and Gilgeous-Alexander sank a pair of free throws to put Oklahoma City ahead.

“I knew the time and the score of the game, but I didn’t realize they were in the bonus,” said the 21-year-old guard. “And I should have known because they were in the bonus for the last three or four minutes. So yeah, it’s a mental mistake on my part and I take responsibility for that.”

After a timeout, the Lakers couldn’t inbound the ball, Austin Reaves’ pass was intercepted by Jaylen Williams, leading to a dunk.

It was the Lakers’ 17th turnover, a total that led to 20 Thunder points — the mental lapses a result of fatigue and suffocating defense. Gilgeous-Alexander had game highs of 36 points and nine assists.

“There were half a dozen to a dozen plays that just shot us in the foot even before the late games,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “We played well enough and hard enough to win against the best team in the West. So there are definitely good things.”

Most of it came on the defensive end, with the Lakers following up 48 strong minutes in San Antonio with one of their best defensive games of the year.

“It was as connected as our group has been on that end of the floor since the first game of the season,” Redick said. “Just, you know, a really excellent job with a lot of the things we talked about.”

However, the game came at a price.

Reaves, who has yet to miss a game and played every game a season ago, exited the game in the first half after a foul while driving to the basket led to a scary fall.

As Reaves leaped from the baseline and tried to put the ball in, he was sandwiched between Oklahoma City’s Isaiah Hartenstein and Gilgeous-Alexander and landed flat on his back. Reaves writhed in pain for most of a timeout before staying in the game to make a pair of free throws. A few minutes later, he pointed to the bench and went straight into the dressing room.

He returned midway through the third quarter, but he was limited.

James leaped to keep a bad pass from being a turnover and flipped it to Dalton Knecht for a three, only to be flattened during a collision and slow to get up.

“Obviously it’s not that important to me. I like when the game is played that way,” James said. “I wish there were more games in the regular season that could be played that way.”

Knecht led the Lakers with 20 points and D’Angelo Russell had 17, but the Lakers’ stars, James and Anthony Davis, scored just 27 points combined. Davis scored 15 and took just nine shots.

After the game, Redick said he and the coaching staff need to do a better job of giving Davis scoring chances despite the Thunder defense focusing on slowing him down.

“The second straight game a team has done that and he’s been a willing passer again, seven assists,” Redick said. “He didn’t score the ball the way he usually scores the ball, but he had an excellent game.”

The Lakers (11-8) go back on the road for a four-game trip that begins Sunday in Utah.