Lakers meltdown in embarrassing loss to the Thunder.
The Lakers completely meltdown in the second half of tonight's game, losing 123–115 and giving Oklahoma City Thunder their first win of the season. It was all Lakers in the first two-quarters of tonight's loss, as it looked like the Lakers were going to coast past a winless Thunder team. The Lakers' biggest lead of the night was 26 points, leading 70–44 toward the end of the first half, then Oklahoma City went on to outscore the Lakers 67–43 in the entire second half.
Scoring a season-high 72 points in the first half still wasn't enough in tonight's disappointing loss for the Lakers. The Lakers meltdown in the second half came from both ends of the floor, shooting 38% (17-45) from the field and 19% (4-21) from three while allowing Oklahoma City to score 67 points in the second half. Head coach Frank Vogel spoke on tonight's 26-point meltdown, saying:
"Disappointing loss. I think we took our foot off the gas after that big first-quarter lead. Lesson for our group that you can ever take your foot off the gas against anyone."
In tonight's loss, Anthony Davis led all scores with 30 points on 12 of 22 (54%) total from the field and 6 for 7 (86%) from the foul line. Davis also provided a significant presence on the board with eight rebounds and a couple of assists in 36 minutes played tonight. Davis spoke on the disappointing outcome of tonight's loss with the media post-game, vocalizing the blame on themselves, explaining:
"It's a lot of looks that we wished could have went in, but that's not why we lost the game. It was on the defensive end. This ain't no adjustment period at all, not this game. It's just straight on us."
Russell Westbrook was able to notch his first triple-double in a Lakers uniform in three quarters in tonight's game, getting ten assists in the first half alone, finishing with 20 points, 14 rebounds, and 13 assists.
Westbrook's woes came from his decision-making in tonight's loss, finishing the game with ten total turnovers in his 34 minutes of action, later explaining how important it is not to turn the ball over, saying: "It's me. I gotta take care of the ball."
The Lakers will travel back home to face the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night in a must-win matchup. There is a strong possibility LeBron James will make his return from the leg injury that he suffered in Sunday's win over the Grizzlies in Friday's game against the Cavs. Another Laker who can make his debut is guard Wayne Ellington, who looks to make an immediate impact in his second stint with the purple and gold.