JJ Redick Didn't Mince Words on Thunder's Dominance As Lakers Fall Into 3–0 Hole

The Lakers took a slight lead into halftime in Saturday night’s Game 3 against the Thunder behind an impressive shooting display, but even that wasn’t enough to hand Oklahoma City its first loss of the playoffs.

In the second half, the Thunder outscored the Lakers 74–49 for a dominant 131–108 win which gave OKC a commanding 3–0 series lead and pushed Los Angeles to the brink of elimination. The Thunder have yet to lose in the postseason and are now just one win away from the Western Conference finals.

What’s so impressive about this Thunder run, and specifically the second-round series with the Lakers, is that someone new seems to take the reins each night. Last year’s MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has averaged a pedestrian 21.0 points per game over the three games against L.A., well below his average of 31.1 points a night over the regular season. Even further, OKC remains without Jalen Williams who’s been absent since Game 2 of the first round series with the Suns due to a hamstring strain.

Despite that, the Thunder continue to dominate. On Saturday night, it was Ajay Mitchell who led the team with 24 points, 10 assists and three steals. In Game 2, trade-deadline acquisition Jared McCain shined with 18 points and four three-pointers off the bench in what was yet another decisive win.

Oklahoma City is rolling even more than it was at this point last year in the playoffs, which is a scary sight for the rest of the NBA. Lakers coach JJ Redick has certainly taken notice as his group is now one game away from elimination with superstar guard Luka Dončić still unavailable.

“The MVP had 18 [points in Game 1], 22 [in Game 2] and went 7 of 20 tonight. They’ve kicked our a-- in three straight games,” Redick told reporters Saturday postgame. “They’re an incredible basketball team.”

This Thunder run has no end in sight

Thus far through the playoffs, the Thunder are scoring the most points per game (122.1), have the best offensive rating (127.6) and are tied with the red-hot Knicks for the best net rating (18.8). Oklahoma City is also making more threes, dishing out more assists and getting more steals than any team still left in the playoffs. If that wasn’t enough, OKC is also turning the ball over at the lowest rate of any team left standing.

A lot of the credit goes to the Thunder’s incredible depth as each member of the roster has played a part in this incredible run. Mitchell, McCain, Cason Wallace and Jaylin Williams have all stepped up at different points to open the postseason. Chet Holmgren is scoring more than he did in the regular season, while Isaiah Hartenstein has been solid down low and Alex Caruso has continued his reign as a defensive menace on the perimeter. And although Gilgeous-Alexander hasn’t scored at his usual rate against the Lakers, he’s still averaging 28.3 points per game thus far through the postseason, the most of any player other than Detroit star Cade Cunningham.

OKC now has a chance to pull off its second straight sweep on Monday night in Game 4 against the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena.

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