LeBron James had 19 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists as the Los Angeles Lakers earned a 116-104 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday.
D’Angelo Russell scored 26 points and made five 3-pointers, Anthony Davis had 24 points and 12 rebounds and Austin Reaves added 16 points as the Lakers beat the Western Conference’s No. 2 team on two days after failing to close out a match. victory over the defending champion Denver Nuggets.
Los Angeles improved to 10-4 since a road win over the Boston Celtics in early February and tied a season high by going five games above .500 at 34-29.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds and Chet Holmgren added 15 points and seven rebounds for the Thunder, who had just regained first place in the conference alone with a road victory over the Phoenix Suns on Sunday.
Luguentz Dort also scored 15 points, Josh Giddey had 13 and Aaron Wiggins added 12 for Oklahoma City, which lost for only the second time in its last nine games.
The Thunder got off to a fast start, taking a 13-2 lead just over three minutes into the game, and they eventually led by 12 points in the first quarter at 20-8.
The Lakers came back to tie the score at 25 late in the first quarter and led by as many as 10 in the second before taking a 52-43 lead at the break despite 12 first-half turnovers. .
Los Angeles kept the pressure on in the third quarter, leading by 17 four times before taking an 89-72 lead into the final period.
The Lakers took their first 20-point lead at 97-77 on a 3-pointer from Russell to beat the shot clock with 10:12 remaining. Russell made three straight 3-pointers, all hard-fought, to give Los Angeles a 103-79 lead with 9:06 to play.
The Lakers went on to win, winning the season series 3-1 against the Thunder.
— Field media/Reuters
