Despite a very bad game from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder vs Lakers Game 1 still ended up as expected, a blowout win for the defending champs. Coming off a long rest after sweeping the Phoenix Suns, it seems the Thunder were shaky at first. However, they easily got back into the game and established their dominance against Los Angeles.
It wasn’t quite a blockbuster for Oklahoma City. They didn’t have many points off turnovers, nor have we seen the scoring avalanche they’ve been putting up. But as the game progressed, the Thunder found their groove and are now looking to maintain the same pace heading into Game 2.
Thunder vs Lakers Game 1: 5 Key Takeaways
Despite winning by 18 points, there are a lot of key improvements that OKC has to make if they want to keep up the same pace in the series. In fact, this is shaping up to be an exciting series that fans should not miss out on.
The Rare SGA Off-Night Won’t Happen Again
Gilgeous-Alexander struggled to play in Game 1 of the West Semis. Yes, you read that right. Despite scoring 18 points off 8-of-15 shooting, the reigning MVP had seven turnovers. That’s more than what he had for the whole series against Phoenix. To be fair, SGA and the Thunder had a lot of rest and were very rusty getting back into the game.
Nevertheless, what bothered SGA for most of the game was the consistent double and triple teams thrown at him at half-court, led by Marcus Smart. That says a lot about the Lakers’ game plan of shutting the OKC star down. If anything, it didn’t work well. However, now Gilgeous-Alexander has to figure out a way to play off the same defense for three more games.
Mark Daigneault on SGA facing doubles: “I thought collectively, we could’ve been better.”
Also said he told the team that: “You can’t get greedy with playoff wins.” pic.twitter.com/LIb5WUQc47
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) May 6, 2026
OKC has to send help in coming up with screens to help the MVP navigate his way into the paint. The rest would be as is, as SGA is great at finding opportunities to either score the ball or find his teammates for an easy basket. Oh, and he has six assists as well, which just means that they need more playmaking from him.
Austin Reaves Must Come Alive
LeBron James finished with a game-high 27 points for the Lakers. No other LA player had more than 20 points. Austin Reaves, for what it is worth, only had eight points on 3-of-16 shooting. With the likes of Cason Wallace and Luguentz Dort on him, it isn’t really easy to find ways to score. As frustrating as it can be, Reaves must find his own way to respond to blitzes by the Thunder defense.
Austin Reaves tonight:
8 Points
3/16 FGM
0/5 3PM
36 Minutes pic.twitter.com/Rqp60DJIEI— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) May 6, 2026
With Luka Doncic out, it’s expected that OKC would now focus a lot of defensive effort on both James and Reaves. The King has made it look easy with 12-of-17 shooting, but that won’t be really enough to help LA win a single game. In fact, that 18.8% shooting from Reaves is the lowest by any Laker in a playoff game over the last 35 years, so that’s a major problem.
Answering the Call for OKC
If there was any doubt about Chet Holmgren showing off in Round 2, that’s definitely gone now. The Thunder center posted 24 points, 12 rebounds, and three blocks — and no goal tends. He was superb on both ends of the floor, and it proved that Holmgren’s impact will be crucial for OKC moving forward. From scoring fast buckets, feeding off lob passes from SGA, this was certainly his night.
Chet Holmgren 24 PTS, 12 REB, 1 STL, 3 BLK, 9/17 FG, 2/2 3FG, 0 TOS, 64% TS vs Lakers https://t.co/pQQi02izR2 pic.twitter.com/c22gtdZ0bq
— Basketball Performances (@NBAPerformances) May 6, 2026
However, what made it even better is his defense. He was corralling the Lakers in the paint. For starters, Deandre Ayton was held to just 10 points on 5-of-11 shooting. The Lakers did have 40 paint points to the Thunder’s 44, but OKC definitely held the advantage inside with Holmgren performing at a high level so far.
The Turnovers and Free Throw Game is Missing
While there’s a whole lot of discourse about these two teams expected to have so many free throws, they only combined for a total of 25 attempts from the line. The Lakers had just one more than the Thunder at 13 attempts from the charity stripe. This fully negates the talk about the free throws for both teams, as neither had an advantage.
However, what was fully negated here was OKC’s advantage to run the break. As you may well know, Oklahoma City forces a lot of turnovers against its opponents and turns this into its advantage. So far, the defending champs have only had 20 points off turnovers, but they also had 14 turnovers themselves to the Lakers’ 17.
POINTS … OFF … TURNOVERS. OKC'S ROCKET FUEL.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) May 6, 2026
It is the biggest reason why it took them so long to close down the game than usual. Los Angeles hung around for at least three quarters trying to cut the lead. OKC only got lucky enough to close the door by the fourth quarter with timely Jared McCain plays.
What to Expect in Thunder vs Lakers Game 2?
It’s safe to say that this may be the worst OKC will play in the whole series, and the Lakers still haven’t left with anything here. At this point, it may end up being quite another big Thunder win in Game 2, along with a much better performance from SGA, and a much more animated Oklahoma City defense that will force more turnovers and score off them even better.
Who knows, maybe both teams can find and make significant adjustments to their game and force a tight clash in Game 2. However, it would need a superhuman change in the Lakers’ rotation if they’re going to put up a fight against a highly dominant Thunder squad in the next games.
Featured Image: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
