{"id":4933,"date":"2026-05-12T06:01:34","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T06:01:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=4933"},"modified":"2026-05-12T06:01:34","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T06:01:34","slug":"desperate-lakers-battle-until-the-end-in-game-4-but-thunder-complete-sweep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=4933","title":{"rendered":"Desperate Lakers battle until the end in Game\u00a04, but Thunder complete sweep"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

LOS ANGELES \u2014 When the Lakers took a 3-0 series lead over the Houston Rockets in their first-round playoff series, Coach JJ Redick didn\u2019t mince words on what they needed to do to send their foes packing.<\/p>\n

Read more Dodgers\u2019 bullpen the guilty party in latest loss<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to kill them,\u201d Redick said. \u201cIt\u2019s difficult to kill someone. You\u2019ve got, again, survival instincts says, \u2018I want to stay alive.\u2019 And so, you got to be able to kill them. That\u2019s what (it takes).\u201d<\/p>\n

The Lakers couldn\u2019t stop the kill on the other end of the equation, however, falling to the Oklahoma City Thunder, 115-110, in Game 4 of their second-round series on Monday night, swept into an offseason of uncertainty. Game 4 was the only game of the best-of-seven series in which the Lakers were competitive until the final buzzer.<\/p>\n

Trailing by one after Thunder big man Chet Holmgren dunked through a group of Lakers for a 111-110 lead with 33 seconds left, LeBron James took his one-on-one matchup with former Lakers guard Alex Caruso head on. The 41-year-old star, playing potentially his final NBA game, forced up a driving bank shot with 20 seconds left. The ball clanked off the rim, Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander collected it and was sent to the line for two free throws, which he drained.<\/p>\n

Down 113-110, guard Austin Reaves had a look from the left wing and took it, but his 3-point attempt was off as well, allowing the Thunder to escape with a five-point victory.<\/p>\n

Reaves led the Lakers with 27 points on 8-for-16 shooting, to go with seven assists and six rebounds, while James finished with 24 points on 8-for-18 shooting to go with 12 rebounds. It only made sense, however, that in the game when the Lakers had the best chance of winning, Gilgeous-Alexander showcased why he\u2019s the favorite to repeat as league MVP.<\/p>\n

The Canadian star recorded 35 points on 11-for-22 shooting, while leading Oklahoma City with eight assists. Ajay Mitchell, who was a thorn in the Lakers\u2019 side throughout the series, scored 10 of his 28 points in the frantic fourth quarter, as the defending champs improved to 8-0 in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

The Lakers led by as many as five points in the fourth quarter, after Reaves drained a 3-pointer over Caruso as the shot clock expired with 7:54 remaining. But it was the Lakers\u2019 final glimmer of sending the series back to Oklahoma City for a Game 5, as 19 turnovers for 22 Thunder points bit the Lakers once more in a series when they struggled to take care of the basketball.<\/p>\n

Read more Dodgers hoping to get \u2018a shot in the arm\u2019 from Mookie Betts\u2019 return<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

The Lakers won the third quarter for the first time all series \u2013 39-31 \u2013 to take an lead into the fourth quarter (84-80) for the first time. Backup center Jaxson Hayes stamped the quarter with a pair of high-flying dunks. Trailing by seven, Luke Kennard drilled a second-chance 3-pointer off the bench before Reaves forced Gilgeous-Alexander to foul him on a 3-pointer.<\/p>\n

Reaves sank three free throws to bring the Lakers within one point with 2:49 remaining in the quarter. He\u2019d make two more to give the Lakers a 76-75 lead.<\/p>\n

The loss, however, might track back to the second quarter. As each Lakers shot clanked off the backboard, the rim, or swam through the air without contact from a player or apparatus, the absence of star Luka Doncic became even more critical.<\/p>\n

The Lakers sure could have used the league\u2019s leading scorer \u2013 seated on the bench in a black bomber jacket \u2013 when the Thunder were pouring in 17 unanswered points to open the second quarter, a powerful combination of the might Oklahoma City had showcased throughout series.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Doncic ultimately didn\u2019t play in the playoffs while nursing a Grade 2 left hamstring strain, still weeks away from the eight-week timetable that he repeatedly said after Game 1 was always the expected length of time he would be sidelined.<\/p>\n

Maybe it was fitting that the Lakers were wearing their black too on Monday night, considering the six-minute-and 22-seconds lull of scoring that erased their biggest lead (five points) they had in Game 4 and sent them tumbling toward elimination.<\/p>\n

Read more UC Irvine men\u2019s volleyball falls to Hawai\u2019i in NCAA championship match<\/a><\/p>\n

More to come on this story.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Lakers take a lead into the fourth quarter for the first time in the second-round series and keep it close down the stretch with big baskets from Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura, but Oklahoma City rallies for a 115-110 win in potentially LeBron James\u2019 final NBA game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4932,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-facts","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nDesperate Lakers battle until the end in Game\u00a04, but Thunder complete sweep - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=4933\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Desperate Lakers battle until the end in Game\u00a04, but Thunder complete sweep - 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