Holmgren, SGA help Thunder frustrate Lakers to go up 2-0 in West semis
At A Glance
- 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, May 7, to take a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference semifinal series.
Oklahoma City Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) is fouled driving to the basket by Los Angeles Lakers' Austin Reaves (15) as LeBron James, right rear, follows behind on the play in the second half of Game 2 in a second-round NBA basketball playoffs series Thursday, May 7, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)
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, May 7, to take a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference semifinal series.
Ajay Mitchell had 20 points and Jaren McCain added 18 for the defending champion Thunder, who improved to 6-0 in the playoffs. The Lakers will host Game 3 on Saturday.
The Lakers again were without scoring champion Luka Doncic, who is out indefinitely with a strained left hamstring. They also were missing forward Jarred Vanderbilt, the reserve forward who dislocated the pinkie finger on his right hand during the second quarter of Game 1. The Lakers also had three players finish with five fouls, limiting their aggressiveness late in the game.
Lakers guard Austin Reaves, who struggled with his shot in Game 1, scored 31 points on 10-for-16 shooting in Game 2. LeBron James, coming off a 27-point effort in Game 1, followed that up with 23.
With the Lakers up 63-61 early in the third quarter, Gilgeous-Alexander got tied up with Reaves and was called for his fourth foul. Upon review, it was upgraded to a flagrant 1 for Gilgeous-Alexander's follow through. Oklahoma City's Alex Caruso was called for a technical foul as the situation was being sorted out.
Gilgeous-Alexander left the game with the Lakers up 65-61, but the Thunder rallied and took control without him. On a fast break, Holmgren found a trailing Jaylin Williams, who hit a 3-pointer and was fouled. His free throw put the Thunder up 85-74.
The Thunder outscored the Lakers 32-15 while Gilgeous-Alexander was out in the third quarter to take a 93-80 lead into the fourth. The Lakers cut Oklahoma City's lead to five in the fourth quarter before the Thunder pulled away again.
Meanwhile, Cade Cunningham had 25 points and 10 assists, Tobias Harris scored 21 points and the Detroit Pistons beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 107-97, to take a 2-0 lead in their second-round series.
Game 3 is Saturday in Cleveland, where the Cavs were 4-0 in the first round against Toronto.
The top-seeded Pistons have won five straight games since Orlando put them on the brink of elimination in the first round.
“We're going to keep swinging,” reserve guard Daniss Jenkins said. “We're still trying to prove something to ourselves.”
Donovan Mitchell scored 31 points and Jarrett Allen had 22 points and seven rebounds, bouncing back from a poor performance in Game 1 for the fourth-seeded Cavs.
James Harden, though, missed 10 of 13 shots and was limited to 10 points. Harden had four turnovers, including one with 33 seconds left when the Cavs trailed by just six.