Thursday night, in the second game of a back-to-back, the Los Angeles Lakers faced the Oklahoma City Thunder in a difficult road trip finale.

In this contest, the Lakers were significantly depleted of personnel, as Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Cam Reddish and Jaxson Hayes were all placed on the inactive roster. Even though LeBron James and Anthony Davis were able to participate despite it being a back-to-back, it was inconsequential as the Thunder emerged victorious by a score of 133-110.

Los Angeles concluded its road journey with a 2-2 record and will return home with an 11-9 record.

Notwithstanding their second consecutive back-to-back shorthanded, the Lakers got off to a rapid start in this contest. Two early fouls were committed by Davis against Thunder newcomer Chet Holmgren, and both James and Taurean Prince made deep passes to give the Lakers an early advantage. Additionally, Max Christie and D’Angelo Russell contribute from deep to extend the lead to double digits, 27-16.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Thunder scored the game-ending basket, reducing the Lakers’ lead to 37-30 heading into the second period.

With Davis on the sideline, Oklahoma City continued its run into the second quarter. They ultimately pulled ahead by a score of 48-46, compelling Darvin Ham to call a timeout.

LeBron initiated the offensive following the timeout by attempting to score. However, the Lakers became reckless with the ball and were also unable to prevent fouls, which allowed the Thunder to extend their lead to double digits.

Los Angeles was unable to string together a run to finish the half due to exhaustion following the second of a back-to-back, and the Thunder held a 72-60 lead heading into halftime.

At the start of the third quarter, Davis maintained his aggressiveness for the Lakers; the only issue was that no one else appeared to be matching him.

In the interim, Gilgeous-Alexander continued to storm the paint, and no Laker could contain him. And following a lackluster first half, Holmgren got going, extending the Thunder’s lead to 20 points with a triple that put the score at 108-88 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Lakers could only have attempted to make a comeback early in the fourth quarter. The Lakers have a reputation for futile comeback attempts, but that was not the case in this contest as the Thunder held on to take the lead throughout and secure the victory.