OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Chet Holmgren and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander each scored 22 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Los Angeles Lakers 125-107 on Thursday night to take a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference semifinal series.
Ajay Mitchell scored 20 points and Jaren McCain added 18 for the defending champion Thunder, which improved to 6-0 in the playoffs. The Lakers will host Game 3 on Saturday.
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The Lakers are again without leading scorer Luka Doncic, who is out indefinitely with a strained left hamstring. They were also without forward Jarred Vanderbilt, a backup forward who dislocated his right little finger in the second quarter of Game 1. The Lakers also had three players commit five fouls, limiting their aggressiveness late in the game.
Lakers guard Austin Reeves struggled to shoot the ball in Game 1 but scored 31 points on 10-for-16 shooting in Game 2. LeBron James scored 27 points in Game 1 and then added 23 points.
At the beginning of the third quarter, with the Lakers leading 63-61, Gilgeous-Alexander got tangled up with Reeves and was whistled for his fourth foul. Upon review, Gilgeous-Alexander’s follow-up upgraded it to a blatant 1. Oklahoma City’s Alex Caruso was called for a technical foul when the situation was resolved.
Gilgeous-Alexander left the game with the Lakers leading 65-61, but the Thunder rallied without him and took control. On the fast break, Holmgren found Jaylin Williams behind, who hit a three-pointer and was fouled. His free throw gave the Thunder an 85-74 lead.
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The Thunder defeated the Lakers 32-15 without Gilgeous-Alexander in the third quarter, and the Thunder entered the fourth quarter with a 93-80 lead. The Lakers cut the Thunder’s lead to five in the fourth quarter before the Thunder pulled away again.
Pistons 107, Cavaliers 97
DETROIT (AP) — Cade Cunningham had 25 points and 10 assists, Tobias Harris scored 21 points and Detroit led Cleveland 2-0 in their second-round series.
Game 3 will take place on Saturday in Cleveland, where the Cavaliers defeated the Toronto Raptors 4-0 in the first round.
Orlando has won five straight games since pushing the top-seeded Pistons to the brink of elimination in the first round.
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Donovan Mitchell scored 31 points and Jarrett Allen had 22 points and seven rebounds to help the fourth-seeded Cavaliers bounce back from a poor performance in Game 1.
However, James Harden made 10 of 13 shots and was limited to 10 points. Harden committed four turnovers, including one with 33 seconds left and the Cavaliers trailing by just six seconds.
Cleveland’s Max Struss scored just three points after scoring 19 points in the series opener.
Detroit’s Duncan Robinson scored 17 points on 5-for-9 three-point shooting, and Dennis Jenkins scored 14 points off the bench, marking his third consecutive game scoring in double figures.
