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Depleted Lakers dominated by Thunder in 3rd straight loss

April 8, 2026

LOS ANGELES — Hardly ideal.

Hardly ideal by any circumstance.

The Lakers lost to the league-leading Oklahoma City Thunder, 123-87, on Tuesday night, the second of four games remaining for Coach JJ Redick to try to piece together lineups and mold out rotations like Play-Doh while attempting to suture the wounds created by the absence of injured stars Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.

Doncic and Reaves are both out for at least the rest of the regular season. Veteran guard Marcus Smart missed his eighth straight game with a right ankle contusion on Tuesday, while LeBron James and backup center Jaxson Hayes were downgraded to out before the game.

One week ago, the Lakers (50-29) were cruising on the highs of their March success when they defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers and held the backcourt of Donovan Mitchell and James Harden to poor shooting nights. Doncic might not have been able to secure league MVP honors, but he was well on his way to first-team All-NBA recognition. One week has changed an entire season, a campaign that will see the Lakers back in a first-round playoff series but with little clarity for the weeks ahead.

Redick started Drew Timme for the first time since he joined the Lakers and rookie Adou Thiero was playing rotation minutes off the bench. Timme scored 11 points on 4-for-9 shooting, 10 of those points coming in the first quarter. Thiero provided a spark in his 21 minutes, contributing 10 points and sinking his first-career 3-pointer.

Thiero, the Lakers’ second-round draft pick last season, might have played more if not for leaving the game with a towel on his head in the second quarter after being on the receiving end of an errant Chet Holmgren elbow between his eyes. He later returned to the game with a bandage on the bridge of his nose up to the middle of his forehead.

Redick reversed his previously stated aspirations to fight for the third seed – as he said Saturday before Reaves learned of his Grade 2 left oblique muscle injury – and admitted that seeding no longer matters.

His Lakers need to generate as many answers as possible to a test that has new questions emerging by the day. He needs to find out who can be part of the Lakers’ playoff rotations

Forward Jarred Vanderbilt appeared to provide Redick with a mid-game answer Tuesday. After Redick called a timeout 16 seconds into the second quarter, Vanderbilt jawed back-and-forth with Redick and some of the coaching staff when they removed him in favor of guard Dalton Knecht. Reaves, along with assistant coach Nate McMillan had to separate Vanderbilt and Redick from one another during the timeout.

Vanderbilt, who played just five minutes and missed three consecutive free throws to end an otherwise competitive first quarter (the Lakers trailed 34-27), didn’t play the rest of the game. The Lakers shot a dismal 14 for 31 (45.2%) from the free-throw line, their worst mark of the season.

Rui Hachimura, who led the Lakers with 15 points on 7-for-10 shooting, was pulled for Thiero just 2½ minutes into the game after Redick was visibly displeased with his veteran forward’s performance, pointing and shouting at Hachimura after calling a timeout.

Thirteen players logged minutes for the Lakers on Tuesday, and 12 played at least 10 minutes. None came close to matching the Thunder’s dominance.

Reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City (63-16) with 25 points on 10-for-15 shooting while Isaiah Joe scored all of his 18 points from 3-point range. Jared McCain scored 15 points and Chet Holmgren had 15 points and 10 rebounds as the Thunder swept the four-game season series against the Lakers and won their 18th game in the past 19 overall.

More to come on this story.

Orange County Register

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Depleted Lakers dominated by Thunder in 3rd straight loss

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